15-Minute Body Scan

This is a short 15-minute body scan meditation. Because of its short length, it moves fairly quickly through the body. This meditation begins at the head and moves down through the body to end at the feet.

Transcript

And we'll be moving into a short body scan. So sitting if you like, Or maybe laying, Whatever is comfortable for you. Just finding a comfortable posture. If you are sitting, Allowing your spine to be straight, Although not tense. Closing your eyes if that's comfortable, Or finding a soft gaze slightly downward. Bringing an affectionate and open-hearted interest and attention to the practice and to the sensations that you're experiencing. And beginning with the top of the head, Bringing the awareness and attention to the top of the head, Maybe just a small circular area. Expanding the awareness a little bit more and shifting downwards the forehead and sides of the head and around back. Just being aware of whatever you're noticing or sensing in the moment. And shifting downwards again to the eyes, Temples, And back of the head. Moving down to the nose, Cheekbones, Ears, And back of the head. And down to the mouth, The lips, Cheeks, Tongue. And finishing with the chin, Jaw, And the back of the head, And top of the very top of the neck where the head connects. Moving down to the neck. And into the center of the shoulders, Just below the neck, And expanding outwards into both shoulders and shoulder joints. Beginning to move down both arms, The upper arms, The biceps and triceps. And just noticing what sensations or feelings are there. Maybe there's warmth or cool or the feeling of your clothing. Maybe there's a tingling or an energy or just even simply a there-ness. Continuing down the arms into the elbow joints, The lower arms, Wrists, The palm and top of the hand. And beginning with the thumb, Moving the awareness through each finger, Ending with the pinky or little finger. And knowing that if you're not feeling or sensing anything, That that's okay, Too. Resisting any judgment, Just allowing for a kind, Compassionate attention and awareness. Now, Moving the awareness back up the arms and into the chest. If you're experiencing any difficulty feeling or sensing, Maybe allowing the breath to flow into the body part, Just breathing into it as you move through the body. Shifting downwards in the torso from the chest into the belly. Maybe noticing some movement, Some expansion and contraction as you breathe in and out. Bringing the awareness back up to the top of the torso and moving around to the back, The upper back, Shoulder blades. Feeling into the sensations in the body with curiosity and just allowing whatever you're feeling or sensing or experiencing to be as it is in this moment. Moving downwards in the torso again to the lower back and can be an area where we sometimes hold some tension. Centering in the torso and just moving downwards slightly into the pelvic bowl and expanding the awareness slightly to the sides to include the hip joints, Both hip joints. Beginning to move the awareness down the legs, Both legs into the upper legs, The thighs and the largest bone in the body, The femur. Seeing if it's possible to feel deep into the upper legs, Into the bone, Moving outwards through the muscles of the upper leg. Moving, Continuing down the legs into the knee joint and shifting downwards a little further again in both legs to the lower legs, The calf and shin and moving into the ankles and shifting the awareness into the feet, The upper foot, The bottom of the foot, The sole of the foot, The heel, The ball and then moving the awareness through the toes, Beginning with the big toe and ending with the little toe. Moving through each toe and now expanding the awareness to include the whole body. Just sensing in and feeling the body as one, As a whole and as we conclude the meditation, Beginning to find a little movement in the body, Wiggling the fingers and toes, Stretching a little, Opening your eyes and returning to our space, Moving to a new voice and a new practice.