Guided Inner Peace Meditation For All Levels: Body Scan

This is a 30 minute Guided Meditation set to music by Imaginary Landscapes. The intention of this practice is to ground and center in the present moment through awareness of the body and the breath, inviting in a peaceful state of mind. This meditation is designed for meditators of all levels, and is influenced by the Vipassana meditation lineage.

Transcript

Welcome to today's meditation.

Take a moment to land in the space you're currently in,

Taking note of your surroundings.

Feel the temperature of the room.

Notice the lighting.

Observe the objects surrounding you,

Their colors,

Their shapes.

And once you feel you've located yourself and your environment,

Find a position that makes you comfortable.

Feel free to be seated or lying down.

And when you're ready,

Allow your gaze to soften,

Gently closing your eyes.

As you settle into this meditation,

Invite your body to relax.

Allow your hips to sink into whatever you're sitting on or lying on.

Let go of the tension in your shoulders.

Release any clenching or holding in the rest of the body.

Allow your tongue and jaw to relax.

Imagine your eyes are resting on two satin cushions.

Notice how envisioning this may also make your temples release.

Observe the contact of your body against whatever surface you're seated on or lying on,

Noticing how it supports your body.

Let's take three conscious breaths together to help ground our practice today.

Start your first inhale by locating the breath deep within your stomach so that as you inhale,

Your stomach extends outwards,

Expanding to hold more air.

Now exhale and let it all out.

From this next breath,

Perhaps the sensation of inhaling supports you in lifting your spine as the breath rises from your stomach to your lungs.

As you exhale,

Feel the breath helping to anchor you into the earth,

Washing over your body and releasing any tension that may be present.

As you inhale for a third time,

Imagine you're pulling up the breath as though from a straw,

Drawing the breath in slowly and expanding to hold the air.

Exhale,

Releasing any distractions or heaviness that you're carrying today.

Continue to observe your natural breathing pattern.

If the mind gets distracted and begins to wander,

Don't worry.

Just bring it back to noticing your breath as it's presenting itself in this very moment.

How does the temperature of the inhale feel?

When you exhale,

How does the sensation of the breath impact the sensations on the upper lip?

It may be very subtle,

But see if you can find it.

Let's continue to explore what's happening in the rest of the body,

Dropping in more deeply into the present moment.

Bring your attention to the top of the head,

The scalp.

Invite in some curiosity as you investigate any sensations happening at the crown of your head.

You might feel like pulsing,

Throbbing,

Itching,

Pressure,

Any sensation that you feel is valid.

Move your attention around the entire scalp.

If you find an area where you can't feel anything,

Focus in for just a few more seconds and see if something crops up.

Now bring your attention to your face.

Scanning over the forehead,

The temples,

The eyebrows,

The eyelids,

The bridge of the nose,

The nostrils,

The right cheek,

The left cheek,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The right eye,

The area between the upper lip and the nose,

The lips,

The chin,

The jawline.

Remaining aware of any sensations manifesting on the face.

And now bring your attention to your neck,

Moving from the jaw downwards,

Noticing the stretch of your skin on your neck,

Tuning into the feeling of the throat.

Perhaps you can even feel where your pulse is happening beneath the surface of the skin.

Bring your awareness now to your right shoulder.

Scan the surface of the shoulder for any sensations.

It might feel like aching or weight,

Perhaps heat,

Just noticing what's happening without judgment.

Scan down your shoulder to your upper arm,

Your bicep,

Becoming aware of the whole upper arm.

Continue scanning down the arm to the elbow.

From the elbow,

Move your attention to the forearm.

What is happening at the surface level on the forearm?

Notice any sensations that may be present there.

Continue moving down the right arm,

Bringing your attention to your right wrist,

The right hand,

Tuning into the sensations at the tips of the fingers.

Perhaps there is pulsing there or something that feels even a bit electric,

Maybe cold or heat.

Moving over each finger and just noticing the feeling.

Scan over the palm of the hand,

Over each joint,

And then the back of the right hand.

Notice the contact of the hand against whatever it is resting on.

Now bring your attention back up to the left shoulder,

Scanning over the left shoulder and seeing what's happening there.

If you can't feel anything,

Try to attune to the sensation of the contact of your skin against your clothing.

And working your way down,

Move your attention to your left upper arm,

The bicep,

Becoming aware of any sensation in the upper arm.

Perhaps heaviness,

Perhaps tingling,

Any sensation at all.

Moving downwards,

Arrive at the elbow and then the left forearm.

Scanning over the entire left arm from the shoulder to the wrist.

Notice how that left arm feels.

Continuing down,

Pass your attention over the left hand.

Bringing awareness to each fingertip on the left hand.

Focusing in on the sensations that live in our fingertips.

Maybe it presents almost as a buzzing feeling.

Continue to scan over the left hand,

Over each finger,

The back of the hand,

The palm of the hand,

The joints.

Now move your attention over your chest,

Scanning your chest for any feelings and becoming curious about what's happening on the chest.

Notice you notice how your chest expands on the inhale and drops on the exhale.

Maybe you can even listen to your heartbeat and feel how the heart sends little pulsations outwards across the chest,

Listening to the subtle rhythm of the heart.

Scan over the right rib cage and now the left rib cage.

What do you notice?

Appreciating the support that the rib cage provides.

Carefully move your attention over the stomach.

Again returning to awareness of the expansion and contraction with each inhale and exhale.

Tuning into the movement of the stomach.

Scanning downwards from the diaphragm to the navel center and to the area just below the belly button.

If you're having difficulty sensing any sensations there,

Pay attention to the touch of your clothing on your stomach.

Now bring your awareness to your upper back and slowly begin scanning downwards.

Do your best to remain aware of what is happening within the body.

Notice the right shoulder blade and then the left shoulder blade.

Try to feel both of them at the same time.

Move your awareness down your back vertebrae by vertebrae from your neck to the base of the spine.

As you move into your lower back,

Become aware of anything present there.

This can be a particularly dense area for many of us.

What is happening in your lower back?

Perhaps pain,

Perhaps tingling,

Perhaps a sense of moving densities.

Just noticing without judgment,

Accepting what is presenting.

Now bring your attention to your hips.

First the right hip,

Then the left hip.

Then notice the sensation of contact under your sit bones against the surface you're lying on or sitting on.

No need to move or change anything,

Just noticing how it feels to be supported.

Bring your attention to your right upper thigh,

Scanning down from the thigh to the knee.

How does it feel at the knee?

Seeing any heaviness,

Any straining,

Any feelings of simply being.

And moving from the right knee,

Scan over the right shin and the right calf.

Stay with the right leg,

Investigating what is happening.

And then bring your attention more fully to your right ankle and to your right foot.

The right toes,

The tips of the toes,

The right sole and ball of the foot,

The arch,

The top of the right foot.

If the foot has fallen asleep,

No need to worry.

This is quite normal and trust that it's taking a time out for now.

Now consider the entire right leg.

Come back to the left hip and observe anything currently happening there.

Move downward from the left hip to the left thigh,

Scanning across the left thigh and arrive at the left knee,

Noticing anything happening at the level of the left knee.

Move onwards with your awareness on the left shin,

The left calf,

Feeling the sensation of the left calf against whatever you're seated on or lying against.

And then bring your attention to the left ankle,

The left foot,

The left toes,

The sole of the foot,

The ball of the foot,

The arch,

The heel,

The top of the foot,

The tips of each toe,

Scanning from the left hip down to the left foot.

And again,

Turn to the area above the upper lip,

Noticing each inhale and exhale that is occurring,

Arriving with greater sensitivity and awareness of the subtleness of each breath.

Feel your whole body breathing as you integrate this practice.

Alive and whole.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful.

May you feel safe in this present moment.

When you feel ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

Feel free to stay as long as it feels right for you,

Acknowledging that you've taken this time to do something kind for yourself today.

Your meditation is complete.

Thank you.

You

Reviews

This was very peaceful practice and the music in the background was wonderful and soothing. Your voice as well is very soothing.
I just feel that it needed more positive affirmation of the feelings in different areas, instead of the focus on the possibility of negative feelings in the area. For instance the low back can feel strong.

Wonderful, thank you.

Thank you for this lovely guided inner peace meditation. World peace begins with inner peace. 💓☮️🌏🙏🏼

Peaceful and beautiful. Timeless