Body scan relaxation practice for sleep.
In this meditation I'll guide you in a body scan that will help develop a sense of relaxation and ease and a support for rest and sleep.
Begin the practice by lying down ideally in bed where you can feel relaxed,
Comfortable and at ease.
Gently close your eyes and let your body be heavy.
Letting your body feel heavy and allowing the weight of the body,
The muscles,
The bones to relax.
Letting gravity pull you towards the ground,
The bed,
The earth.
Allowing the muscles to release.
So there's a sense of softening,
Melting,
Easing into this posture of lying down,
Resting.
And bring awareness to your breathing.
Notice and feel the sensations as you inhale,
As you exhale.
Perhaps feeling the sensations of the breath as the chest expands,
Pressing into the floor,
The bed.
Allowing the breathing to be at ease,
Relaxed,
Slow.
And then I'm going to guide you through your body,
Bringing awareness and relaxation to each part of the body.
We'll begin by starting at the feet and moving up the body.
So beginning by feeling your left foot,
Feeling the sensations of the sole of the foot,
The toes,
The top of the foot,
The heel,
The ankle.
And moving your way up to feeling the shin and the calf muscle of the left leg,
Resting on the bed.
And sensing that part of the body relaxing.
And feeling and sensing the knee,
The back of the knee,
The front of the knee,
The skin.
And moving up further up the left leg,
Feeling the thigh,
The muscles,
The back of the thigh,
The quadriceps,
The front of the thigh.
Feeling the skin,
The muscles,
And again allowing this part of your body to relax,
To soften,
To find ease.
And as we move through the body you may notice the exterior sensation of the body part touching clothing or the bed,
Or the floor.
You may notice an interior experience,
Warmth,
Weight,
Pressure,
Heaviness,
Density.
Shifting attention to your right foot,
Feeling the toes of the right foot,
The sole of the foot,
The skin,
The heel,
The bones.
Sensing the top of the foot,
And feeling the ankle,
And slowly moving awareness up the right leg,
Feeling and sensing the calf muscle,
And the shin.
Relaxed,
Easy.
Moving up to the knee,
The right knee,
The back of the knee,
Front of the knee,
And sensing the right thigh,
The back of the thigh,
The front of the thigh.
Sensing the muscle,
The bones,
The heaviness.
And now feeling both legs together,
Relaxed,
Heavy,
Soft.
And aware of the buttocks touching the ground or the bed,
Allowing that area to relax.
Sensing your left hip and your right hip.
And then shifting attention to your lower back,
Your sacrum,
Feeling the sense of the lower back touching the bed,
Relaxed,
Melting,
And slowly moving awareness up the back,
Up the spine,
Feeling the muscles either side of the spine,
Sensing the middle back,
The shoulder blades,
The upper back,
Feeling the contact of the back with the bed,
Allowing it to soften,
To open,
Perhaps feeling the breathing in that back body.
Now shifting awareness to the front of the body,
Feeling your abdomen and your belly area,
Allowing the belly to be soft,
Relaxed,
At ease.
Moving up to the diaphragm area,
Feeling the torso,
The diaphragm,
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Moving in and out.
Can help to put a hand on the belly,
Feeling the breath.
And then moving awareness up to the chest,
Your heart area,
The center of your chest,
Your upper chest,
Feeling that sense of expansion,
Lifting,
Falling,
And noticing and allowing any sense of ease or relaxation.
And then feeling your whole torso,
The back,
The front,
The shoulders,
Allowing the shoulders to be relaxed,
To be at ease.
And then shifting attention to the left hand,
Feeling the fingers,
Feeling the palm of the left hand,
And the back of the hand,
And noticing any sensations,
Warmth,
Tingling,
Pressure,
Contact.
And we'll move awareness up the arm,
Sensing the wrist of the left arm,
And the forearm,
The muscles,
Skin,
And the elbow,
And the upper arm,
The biceps,
Triceps,
And the area of the upper arm,
The skin,
The bones.
Feeling the whole left arm together,
And shifting awareness to the top of the right arm,
Triceps,
Biceps,
Down into the elbow,
The forearm,
And the wrist in the right arm,
And down into the fingers,
The hand,
Palm of the hand,
And feeling whatever sensation,
Movement,
Heat,
Weight,
Tingling,
Pressure,
Sensing the right arm as a whole,
And then shifting attention now up to the neck,
To the throat area,
To the neck,
Allowing the neck to soften and relax,
Feeling the space in the neck,
And then moving up into the head,
The back of the head,
Touching the pillow,
Or your bed,
Or the ground,
Allowing the head to be heavy,
To relax,
Feel the earth take its weight,
Feeling the crown of the head,
Top of the head,
And then moving attention down to the forehead,
The eyebrows,
Softening the eyes,
And the brow,
Letting the eyes relax,
Fall deep into the sockets,
Softening the eye muscles,
And aware of your cheeks and cheek muscles,
Allowing those to soften,
Sensing your mouth,
Letting your tongue relax,
And feeling your jaw,
Allowing the jaw to release,
To soften,
Sensing your ears,
And then feeling the head as a whole,
And now bringing awareness to your whole body lying,
Relaxed,
At ease,
Soft,
Spacious,
Heavy,
Noticing whatever sensations are present in the body as you feel the body touching the ground,
The bed,
And sensing your breath,
Notice and feeling the rhythm of breath,
Letting the breath be relaxed,
Breathing itself,
And just bringing us curious attention as you lie there breathing,
Softening,
Melting,
Relaxing,
And as we bring this practice to a close,
You can continue simply sensing the sensations of your body,
Sensing your breath,
And if you feel drawn you can just stay present in this open way or you may choose to sweep through your body again as we've done in a very slow,
Steady,
Relaxed way.
