Body Scan

The Body Scan is a traditional practice. Let go of "right/wrong" approaches. Whatever your response, the idea is to simply notice it. When thoughts about your experience carry you away, acknowledge them with a word or two (i.e."here's impatience") then come back to a singular focus on sensation in the body. Less thinking, more feeling!

Transcript

The following is a 30 minute body scan meditation. So finding a comfortable place where you can lie down on your back, It might be on the floor on a mat or rug, Some kind of padding underneath you is a good idea. You might even be in your bed, That's fine. You can actually do body scans even standing up. But for this first one, Let's just try it lying down if that works for you. So finding a place where you won't be disturbed and you'll be warm, Comfortable and beginning to just settle in. Noticing how your heels are resting on the floor and just letting your feet flop out naturally, Letting your arms and hands rest at your sides. Palms up is sometimes less distracting than palms down, A little more comfortable for your shoulders. Just experimenting a little bit with what your best lying down posture might be. And as you get settled in, Allow your eyes to just close very gently, Resting, Letting your eyes be still. And beginning to draw your attention over the next few moments with just the movement that your body makes as you breathe, The sensations of the in-breath and the sensations at the out-breath. You may notice how cool the air feels at your nostrils when you breathe in and the warmth of the air as the air leaves your body. The rise and fall of your belly, Just noticing all of those sensations associated with the breath. When you're ready, And you may already be aware of sensations of touch or pressure where your body is making contact with the floor or the bed. With each out-breath, Think of allowing yourself just to simply let go, Sinking in a little deeper into the mat, The bed, The earth. Just letting that support embrace your whole body from head to heel. Now might be a good time to remind yourself of the intention of this practice. Same as not to feel any different, Any kind of relaxation or calmness necessarily, This may happen, It may not. Instead, The intention of the practice is, As best as you can, To bring your awareness to any sensations that you detect as you focus your attention on each part of the body in turn. We like to say this is a practice in which you fall awake to the moment and each moment, Moment to moment, Noticing your physical sensations and noticing emotions and thoughts that come up and then just returning to the physical sensations without getting hung up on the thinking part. If you do fall asleep or drift off, That's quite natural, It happens to lots of us. Just as you become aware of it, Congratulate yourself for becoming aware and then coming in wherever I might be in my guidance. The same thing goes if you find that my voice is in the way or somehow distracting and you need to be in a place of quiet, Feel free to just tune my voice out, Put it in the background and pay attention to what's going on for you. So now, Bring your awareness to the physical sensations in the lower abdomen, Becoming aware of the changing patterns of sensations all around the abdominal wall as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Bring the next few minutes to just feel those sensations as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Great, Well done today. There's no need to shift or control the breath in any way. Just allowing it to do its natural thing. And now that you've connected with the sensations in the abdomen, Bring the focus or spotlight of your awareness down the left leg into the left foot and all the way to the toes on your left foot. Beginning with the big toe, Noticing any kind of sensation that may be there. Bringing a gentle curiosity to investigate the quality of the sensations there. And you may even notice that there isn't sensation and that's a fine thing to notice too. And then let your awareness drift and turn to each toe, Noticing maybe if they're in contact with each other or if there's any sense of warmth or maybe a little pressure from a sock or shoe. Just noticing what's there in your toes, One by one. When you're ready on an in-breath, Feel or imagine feeling the breath entering the lungs and then passing down into the abdomen, Into the left leg, Into your left foot and all the way out to the toes of your left foot. Then on the out-breath, Feel or imagine the breath coming all the way back up out of the foot, Into the leg, Up through the abdomen and chest and out through your nose. And as best you can, Continue this for a few breaths, Breathing down into the toes and back out from the toes. It may feel a little difficult to get the hang of this, But it's just practice. And go ahead and just do what you can with it, This breathing into and approach it playfully. There's no right or wrong or success or failure with this meditation. It's all about investigating, Becoming familiar. Now on your next out-breath, Let go of awareness of your toes and bring your awareness to the sensations on the bottom of your left foot. Just playing with that investigative kind of awareness all through the sole of your foot, The instep, The ball of your foot, The heel, Maybe noticing how the heel is pressing against the floor or the bed. And experiment once again with that breathing with sensation of breathing into the foot and breathing back out. And then allowing your awareness to just expand into the rest of the foot, To the ankle, To the top of the foot, And right into the bones and the joints, The inside of the foot. And then taking a slightly deeper breath, Directing it all the way down into the whole left foot, Thinking of that left foot and the toes as a whole single unit. And as the breath lets go on the out-breath, Let go of the left foot completely, Allowing the focus of awareness to move now into the lower left leg, The ankle, The calf, The shin, The knee. Starting with that ankle, Just the entire circumference of the ankle, The ankle bone, The Achilles tendon, And how your ankle connects with the calf and the shin, The lower leg. Maybe you can detect the sensation of a pant leg or blanket on your leg. Whatever is there, Just taking it in, Moving into the knee, Inside, Around the knee, Back of the knee. Is your knee supported by a pillow or cushion or is it lifted slightly off the floor because your calf and your thigh are there making contact? Just whatever you notice, Paying as much attention as you can. And then moving into the thigh, The hamstrings. Do you notice any tightness or holding in any of these places in your left leg? And if so, Breathing into that tightness as though your in-breath can soften any holding and your out-breath can release any tension that might be there. And now moving into the left hip, The hip joint where it joins with your left leg. And the outside of your hip where the skin is perhaps in contact with elastic or fabric of some kind. That groin all around that top of the thigh and into the hip. What do you find there? And then on your next in-breath, Take an in-breath all the way down through lungs, Abdomen, Down into your left leg, All the way down to the toes. And then on your out-breath, Drawing the breath all the way back up through the hip, Abdomen, Chest and out your nose. Taking a few breaths like that and having a full awareness of your left leg, Ankle, Foot as a single unit. Perhaps becoming aware of how they all work together. Toes, Feet, Ankle, Calf and shin, Knee, Thigh, Hip, They all coordinate in this beautiful way to help support you, Transport you. And on your next out-breath, Shift your awareness away from your left leg and all the way down to the toes of your right foot. Starting with the big toe on your right foot. What do you notice in that big toe? And is it making contact with the toe next to it? Can you find a sensation of the sock or fabric that might be on top of your foot? Or is there a coolness that's exposed just to the air? Maybe there's a tingling or a little itch that's noticing. And each time you do notice an urge to move or scratch or do something to fidget, You may do so. Just try to do it mindfully. So before just giving in to the immediate action or reaction, Just noticing that you're having that and then take care of yourself as best you need to. So now moving your attention to each of the toes, How they touch each other or maybe don't touch each other and how there may be sensations there and maybe not. Allowing your awareness to just move with great attention from toe to toe, Top of toes, Bottom of toes, Between the toes. And then allowing your attention to move to the heel of your right foot, Where it's resting, What can it feel? What part of your heel is making contact with the support below it? And moving along the outer edge of your right foot and the inner edge, The arch, The instep, The ball of your right foot. And all the way around to the top of your foot, An awareness of the joints and bones, The knuckles of your toes, Taking in an awareness of your whole foot, Breathing in to your foot and breathing out. And then on your next out breath, Shift your attention a little further up to the ankle and lower right leg. Once again, Noticing that ankle bone on the right side and maybe any sensation of elastic from a sock or pant leg that may be touching the ankle on the outside. And how is your calf resting against the support? How does the bottom of your lower leg feel different from the top? And moving into the knee, Can you detect where your lower leg joins with the knee? And do you notice any holding or maybe guardedness if you've ever had any injury there? Just noticing what's there. No need to change a thing. And then moving into the thigh, Inner thigh, Outer thigh and inside the muscles, Tendons, Hamstrings. And gradually into that right hip, Hip joint. Can you tell where your leg joins the hip joint? And can your skin on the outside of your hip feel the pants or whatever clothes you may be wearing? And on your next in breath, Drawing your breath all the way down that right leg to the toes and drawing it back out on the out breath of through the right leg, Through the abdomen chest and the air comes out of your nostrils. Taking several breaths that way, Keeping an awareness of your whole right leg, Foot, Toes, All of it together, How they all work together. And then breathing into both feet, Both left and right, Legs left and right, Hips left and right, Breathing in together with an awareness of how both legs work together, Both feet, Both sets of toes for balancing, Supporting, Transporting. And now shifting your awareness into the pelvis, Genitals and buttocks and how they're maybe tension or holding in any of those places. And should you become aware of tension or any kind of intense sensations in a particular part of the body, Think of breathing into those spots, Using the in breath gently to just bring awareness right into the sensations, Turning toward them and then having a sense of their letting go or releasing on your out breath. It's a sort of gentle acceptance of what's there. So as you're shifting your awareness into the pelvis and the buttocks, Noticing how the buttocks is resting, Is it evenly resting on the floor or the bed? And the lower belly, The inside, Reproductive organs, The colon, So many vital parts on the inside. Do you notice anything there, Any sensations? Breathing into this area and then on your next exhale, Breathing out and shifting your awareness a little higher up, Closer to the belly button and the entire circumference of your waist. Probably noticing once again the breath and how it lifts and lowers the belly as you breathe in and breathe out. Perhaps noticing what happens to the side body as you breathe in and breathe out. And the lumbar region of your spine, A natural curve is there. It may not be in contact with the floor. Just noticing that. And coming up a little higher into the rib cage and torso and mid back, All those vital organs that take such good care of us, Protected by that rib cage. Can you detect any sensation on the inside, The belly, The heart, The lungs? And between your shoulder blades, And how are your shoulder blades resting on the floor? Evenly, One side more, Pressing more than the other. Just noticing what's there. Noticing perhaps the expansion of the ribs on the in-breath and how they slightly come together on the out-breath. And then with your next in-breath, Breathe all the way down into your pelvis and all the way back up through the chest, Allowing the air to exit through your nose. Breathing in and breathing out this way, Bringing a gentle awareness to the whole torso and back body. And on your next out-breath, Bringing your attention to the fingers of your left hand. Noticing the thumb between the fingers, The palm, The top of your hand. What sensations are there? Can you detect the sensation of any jewelry you might be wearing on your wrist or fingers? And the wrist and forearm, How are they resting on the floor or the mattress? Moving into the elbow, Is it bent or straight? Does it feel calm, A sense of ease, Or is there a tenderness there? And the muscles of your upper arm, Bicep and tricep, What's there? Inside and outside, Shifting your awareness all the way into the shoulder joint of your left arm. And using that breath, That awareness breath, Drawing your breath all the way down to the fingertips of your left hand and all the way back up through the lower arm, Elbow, Upper arm and shoulder, Eventually leaving your body through your nostrils. Taking a couple of breaths this way with an awareness of how the fingers, The hand, The wrist, The arm, Everything works so well together. And on your next out-breath, Shifting your awareness away from your left arm and down to the fingertips of your right hand. Once again, Taking in an awareness of all the sensations on fingers, Top of your hand, Palm of your hand, The wrist, And moving your attention into the forearm, The elbow, The upper arm and the shoulder joint. Breathing in all the way down to the fingertips and breathing out all the way back up through the right arm and out of your nose. And now, Shifting your awareness into the throat and the neck, The jaw, The facial muscles. And how is your tongue resting in your mouth? Tension that may be there around the temples, The forehead, Between the eyebrows, The scalp, Left ear, Right ear. What can you detect? What do you notice? Sensation of hair at your neck or perhaps slightly tugging the back of your head where your head is resting on the support beneath you. Now, Spend the next few moments being aware of your body as a whole and of the breath flowing freely in and out of the body. Breathing all the way down from the top of your head down to the toes and breathing out, Drawing the breath all the way back up from toes through the torso, Throat, Head, Out the top of your head. And if you should still find some areas of tension or other intense sensations, Breathe into those spots now, Gently bringing an awareness and acceptance there and an in-breath that can soothe and an out-breath that lets go, Releasing that tension into the earth. In a moment, You'll hear the brass bowl chime indicating the end of this meditation. Take a few moments to just reflect on what this felt like for you and a few moments to just gently open your eyes and transition back to the rest of your day or evening. And as you move away from that, If you feel like you just simply Copyright © 2018 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd. 's express consent.

Reviews

Perfect. Just what I needed

Thanks Denise. Your voice is always so calming. Blessings🙏🏻

Hey what are you guys up to tonight thanks

I have a sense of spaciousness. Good to listen to the body scan with a different person from my usual. It brings a freshness to it.

Very nice body scan

Thank you