Body Scan

The body scan helps us to train our present moment awareness. We practice acknowledging and staying with whatever is going on in and around us. It’s important that we don't try too hard! Remember that we’re not trying to achieve any particular state, or feel calm and relaxed, this may happen but if it doesn’t that ok too.

Transcript

So before we begin the body scan,

Please find anything that you need that will help you to be as comfortable as possible for the next 20 to 25 minutes.

And just take your time when you lie down to get as comfortable as you can.

And remind yourself that if you aren't comfortable lying on your back,

Then lie on your side or your front or even sit for the body scan practice.

And just take a few moments to get in touch with the movement of the breath and the sensations in the body.

And when you're ready,

Just bring in your awareness to the physical sensations in your body,

Especially the sensations of touch or pressure where your body makes contact with the floor or bed.

And on each out breath,

Allow yourself to let go,

To sink a little deeper into the floor or the bed or the chair.

And just reminding yourself of the intention of this practice.

Its aim is not to feel any different,

Relaxed or calm.

This may happen or it may not.

Instead,

The intention of the practice is as best you can to bring awareness to any sensations you detect as you focus your attention on each part of the body in turn.

When you're ready,

Bring in your awareness to the physical sensations in the lower abdomen.

Becoming aware of the changing patterns of sensations in the abdominal wall as you breathe in the gentle expansion and as you breathe out the gentle contraction.

And just take a few minutes to feel the sensations as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

And then when you're ready,

Bring in your attention from the abdomen all the way down through the left leg and into the left foot.

Out into the toes of the left foot.

Noticing each toe of the left foot in turn.

Bringing a gentle curiosity to the quality of the sensations you might find.

Perhaps noticing the sense of contact between the toes or a sense of tingling,

Warmth,

Coolness or no particular sensation.

And when you're ready,

On an in-breath feel or imagine the breath entering the nostrils,

Down into the lungs and then passing down into the abdomen,

Into the left leg,

The left foot and out to the toes of the 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,

Chest and out through the nose.

As best you can just continue this for a few breaths.

Breathing down into the toes and back out from the toes.

And just practicing this breathing into as best you can and as playfully as you can.

Now,

When you're ready on an out-breath letting go of the awareness of the toes and bringing your attention to the sensations on the bottom of your left foot.

Bringing a gentle investigative awareness to the sole of the foot,

The instep,

The heel.

Noticing the sensations where the heel makes contact with the mat or the bed.

And then breathing with any sensations.

So being aware of the breath in the background and in the foreground,

Exploring the sensations of the lower foot.

Now,

Allowing the awareness to expand into the rest of the foot.

The ankle,

The top of the foot and right into the bones and joints.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and directing the attention down into the whole of the left foot.

And as the breath lets go on the out-breath,

Let go of the left foot completely and allowing the focus of your awareness to move into the lower left leg.

So noticing the calf,

The shin,

The knee,

The back of the knee and the front of the knee.

And again,

Breathing with the sensations.

Noticing tingling,

The feel of the clothes on the lower leg.

The temperature,

Lack of sensations.

And then again,

Taking a slightly deeper breath,

Bringing your attention from the lower legs to the upper legs.

So the thigh of the left leg,

The front,

The back of the thigh,

The inside and the outside of the thigh.

Just noticing whatever you notice.

And again,

Taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention from the left thigh all the way down the right leg to the right foot and the right toes.

Noticing the front and the back of the toes.

Noticing the space in between each toe.

And again,

Playfully breathing in to the sensations in the toes of the right foot.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing the focus of awareness from the toes to the whole of the right foot.

The sole of the foot,

The instep,

The heel.

Noticing any and all sensations as best you can.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and directing the spotlight of your attention to the right lower leg.

Noticing any sensations in the calves or shin or the knee of the right leg.

Being as curious as you can.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and directing your attention to the right thigh,

The upper leg.

Noticing where the thigh makes contact with the surface that you're lying on.

And then again taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention from the right upper leg to the pelvic area,

The hips.

Noticing whatever you notice in this area.

And seeing if you can breathe in to the pelvis and the hips as best you can.

Noticing any sensations on the in-breath.

And as best you can,

Having a sense of letting go,

Releasing on the out-breath.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention to the abdomen.

Noticing the gentle rise and fall of the belly as you breathe in and out.

And as you breathe,

Noticing any other sensations in the belly.

Any gurgling,

Any sensations at all and breathing with them as best you can.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing the attention from the belly to the chest.

Noticing how the chest rises on the in-breath and falls on the out-breath.

And bringing a gentle curiosity to any other sensations that you notice in the chest area.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention from the chest to the back,

The back of the body.

Noticing the lower back.

And again noticing whatever sensations are present right now in the lower back.

And breathing as best you can with whatever sensations are there.

And then the mid-back,

All the way up to the upper back.

Just noticing how the back feels right now in this moment.

Noticing any discomfort,

Tightness,

Tension.

And seeing if it's possible with each out-breath to release and relax as much as you can.

And if your attention wanders off,

That's okay,

That's normal.

So if you notice it wanders off,

Just bring your attention back to whatever body part we're focusing on.

So right now is the back.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention from the back all the way down to the fingers.

What sensations do you notice in the fingers?

Any tingling or aliveness in the fingers?

Or no sensations?

Again just breathing into any sensations in the fingers.

And seeing if you can let go on that breath.

And then breathing in slightly deeper and bringing your attention from the fingers to the hands.

The palm of the hands and the back of the hands.

Kindly and gently noticing whatever you notice.

And just breathing with the sensations or lack of sensations as best you can.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention from the hands to the arms.

The forearms,

The elbows,

The inside,

The outside of the elbow and the upper arms.

How do the arms feel right now in this moment?

And again if the mind wanders,

Not judging yourself for being critical,

Just noticing it's wandering,

Congratulating yourself for noticing and bringing your attention back And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing the spotlight of your attention to your shoulders.

Noticing any sensations in the shoulders.

Any tightness,

Any tension or discomfort.

Or no sensations or pleasant sensations.

Noticing whatever you notice in the shoulders.

Breathing in and out of the shoulders.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your awareness from the shoulders to the neck.

And breathing in and around the neck as best you can.

And then taking a slightly deeper breath and bringing your attention from the neck to the face.

Noticing the jaw,

The mouth,

The cheeks,

The nose,

The muscles around the eyes,

The forehead,

All the way to the crown of the head.

Just breathing in and around the head.

And then when you're ready,

Bringing your attention from the head to the whole body.

So as you breathe in and out,

Just having a sense of the body as a whole.

The breath is a little bit more When you're ready,

Just bringing some gentle movement into the body.

Or maybe taking a stretch or rolling the wrists,

The ankles.

And bottle.

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