Welcome to this body scan meditation.
Before we begin,
Make sure your phone is on silent so you won't be disturbed.
You're carving out some time in your day to focus,
Relax and be mindful,
So allow yourself to enjoy that time to the full.
Know where to be right now,
Nothing to do.
Just relax.
You can choose to sit on a meditation cushion or chair for this practice,
But most people like to lie down for a body scan.
We'll be aiming for deep relaxation,
Which is easier to achieve if you're in a comfortable,
Horizontal posture.
Of course,
When we're lying down it's easy to go to sleep.
This is perfect if you're using the practice to fall asleep at night,
But not so good if you're in the middle of your day and have things to do.
So if you find yourself falling asleep but don't want to,
Just continue the practice with your eyes open.
Let's start by focusing on your breath.
You don't need to do anything with the breath,
Just allow your body to breathe in its natural rhythm.
This might change over the course of the practice,
Which is fine,
Or it may not,
Which is fine too.
Bring your awareness to the physical sensations of breath,
Travelling into and out of your body.
Try and track one whole breath cycle,
Entering the nostrils,
Travelling down the throat,
Chest,
Upper back and abdomen expanding.
Then a short pause before the process is reversed,
Abdomen,
Chest and back contracting,
Breath travelling from your lungs,
Up into your throat,
Then leaving the body through your mouth and nostrils.
A short,
Simple,
Life-sustaining miracle that happens over 20,
000 times a day,
Every day of your life.
Now shift your awareness and bring it into the body,
Starting with your right foot.
You probably don't pay much attention to your feet on an average day,
So just notice what's happening here.
Let the spotlight of your attention shine on your toes,
Sole of the foot,
Heel.
And as you move your attention through your body you may notice heat,
Cold,
Tingling,
Tightness,
Softness,
Skin on fabric sensations,
Or sometimes nothing much happening at all.
It's all good,
Just notice whatever's happening in this somewhat neglected part of your body.
And if you can,
Allow any muscles that feel a little tight or tense to relax.
Let your foot be sleepy.
Moving up into your right ankle,
Then the calf muscle,
Which can often get tired and hold little knots or zones of tension.
See if you can let your calf be relaxed.
Give it a break from its 24-7 job of carrying your body around and let it be soft and heavy.
Then travelling through the right shin,
The knee,
Up into the large leg muscles,
Quadriceps at the front and hamstrings at the back.
Again,
These are big,
Strong,
Hard-working muscles,
So can you give them a little vacation?
Let your upper leg be kind of loose and squashy.
Travelling up the leg,
Into your groin,
Right hip and buttock,
Another big,
Strong,
Powerful muscle that might be holding lots of tension.
See if you can let that tension go a little.
Let your buttocks sink down into the floor.
Give it up to gravity.
Then up into your abdomen,
Rib cage,
Pectoral muscles,
The whole of the front of your torso.
Just take a moment to notice what's here.
There might be some energy moving around,
Or perhaps a sense of holding tight.
Release that,
If you can,
Letting this part of your body be at ease.
Up into the right armpit,
The shoulder,
Then travelling down again,
The upper right arm,
Elbow,
Wrist and down into your hand,
Palm of the hand,
Top of the hand,
Fingers and thumb.
Let your arm be heavy,
If you can.
Nothing for it to lift or hold onto right now,
So it can simply relax.
Now back up the arm and shoulder,
Into the neck and throat,
The jaw,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Eyelids.
Let your tongue be soft and eyes rest in their sockets.
Release all the tension in your face,
Your ears,
Around the eyes,
Your forehead and scalp.
Sense your whole neck,
Face and head being heavy,
Resting on the floor or pillow.
We hold so much tension in these parts of the body,
So try to let that tension go,
Your face smooth,
Peaceful and at ease.
Now travelling down the left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Hand,
Fingers and thumb,
Again letting the whole arm and hand be heavy.
No need to fight gravity,
Just let it do its thing and allow your arm to sink into the floor.
Then moving that spotlight of attention back from the left hand and arm into the left shoulder and now the back,
Upper back.
Then travelling right down the length of your spine,
Feeling each vertebra in turn.
This strong,
Flexible column that supports you for every waking moment of your life.
Why not give it a break,
Letting those vertebra relax into the long muscles of the lower back.
Whole back now resting,
Still,
At peace.
Then into the hip and left buttock,
Which might be a little tense so allow it to take a break,
Letting the tension flow out like warm water.
Now down into the upper thigh,
Hamstrings and quadriceps,
Letting those be heavy and soft.
They work so hard for you,
They need a break too from time to time.
Down,
Down into the left knee,
The shin and calf,
Again paying particular attention to this large,
Hard working muscle,
Letting it be for a few richly deserved seconds.
Now travelling through the left ankle,
The heel,
Sole of the foot,
Upper foot,
Toes,
Letting the foot relax,
Be soft.
And then letting go of paying attention to your foot and having a sense of the whole body lying here,
Calm and relaxed,
Feeling the whole body breathing,
Still,
At peace.
Take a few moments just to enjoy that stillness,
Let yourself luxuriate in it.
Then if you'd like to drift off to sleep,
Allow yourself to do so and have a deep,
Restful,
Peaceful sleep.
But if you need to wake up,
Just start by wriggling your toes,
Your fingers,
Gently moving your arms and legs.
Take a few deep breaths,
Then open your eyes,
Take it slowly as you rouse yourself and stand.
Do this with care and pay mindful attention as you move into an upright position.
And now have a wonderful day.
