Basic Body Scan

This simple body scan practice is great for beginners who are wanting to practice sitting with discomfort just long enough to allow the feeling to pass. Body scans help us building emotional and physical capacity for acceptance.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Dr.

Dauten of Playfully Psyched.

Thank you for joining me today as we begin a body scan.

This is for beginners who are learning how to sit with their discomfort and their pain without doing anything about it.

This helps you build your capacity to know that this too shall pass.

As we do this,

I'd like you to get settled into your bodies and be really mindful of the position that you choose.

We'll be in our positions for at least 10 minutes or so.

So you want to pick a position that is comfortable and that can be maintained for several minutes.

Body scan is a practice of stillness.

So if you get ready to settle in,

Find a position that is good for you.

Perhaps that's sitting with your legs crossed in a traditional meditation pose or it may be sitting in a chair with great back support and your feet touching the floor if they're able.

This may even mean lying down on a soft surface and allowing your body to sink into that space.

I'll give you a few moments as you find that position that works well for you.

All right,

As you're settling into that position,

I want you to draw your attention to your breath.

I want you to settle into the rhythmic cadence,

The flow of your breath.

Feel comfort into that breath.

Follow the path of the air as it goes into your nostrils,

Goes down your throat,

Is warmed as it fills your lungs,

Maybe touching your belly and then that air comes right back out again.

You can decide if it comes out through your nose or slightly through your lips.

Let's do that again,

Focusing on your breath,

Following its path as it warms up in your body and comes back out.

Keep your attention on your breath.

As we do this body scan today,

You're going to picture a ring around your body,

But it never touches your body.

It's just to help you scan.

It'll scan from the very top of your head,

All around your body,

All the way down to the soles of your feet,

Ending at your heels.

Your only job today will be to focus on the parts of your body as you use my voice as your guide.

All right,

We're going to get started.

Starting on the very top of your head,

We're going to slowly start cascading down towards your forehead,

Over your temples,

And the upper part of the back of your head,

Seeing if you notice anything that's throbbing or any sensations at all,

Pressure,

Weight,

Temperature.

Going down your eyes,

The bridge of your nose,

Your cheekbones,

The middle of the back of your head,

Top of your ears,

And going down your ears,

Inside your ears.

Attention to your nostrils,

Inside your nose,

Those cheeks,

Those lips.

And inside your mouth,

Your tongue,

Your teeth,

Your gums,

Inside your cheeks,

That soft palate under your tongue.

Checking in on your jawline,

Down to the tip of your chin.

Checking in with your neck,

All around your neck.

All your attention to the inside of your throat,

How it feels as you swallow.

Good time to check in with the top of that spine,

That back of the neck area.

Now cascading down to the top of your shoulders,

Maybe you notice heaviness there,

Maybe there's tension as you just sit or lie in stillness.

Checking in with your upper chest,

Upper back,

When we're in this upper chest area,

You might notice your heart rate.

Notice how it's beating for you and what that feels like.

And we're going to go cascading down those arms just a bit,

Checking in with those biceps and those triceps,

Front of the arm,

Back of the arm,

Down towards your elbows,

An area that we may not always pay very much attention to.

You might notice if your arms are in contact with another part of your body.

You might feel the warmth from your torso or your trunk.

You might feel coolness or a breeze if your arms aren't touching your body.

Just take note.

Now we're going to go back to our middle of the chest,

Middle of the back,

Checking in with that part of the spine,

Cascading down towards our belly,

Going towards that lower back,

An area that many of us carry stress and tension.

Just notice it,

If there's tightness,

If there's soreness,

Just take note.

Stay in stillness.

Down towards your hips and we're going to pause there.

If you chose a seated position,

Focusing on your hips right now might be really interesting.

You might really notice that seated position.

And if you chose one where you're lying down,

You may start to notice how gravity is holding those hips in place,

Pressing you against the surface.

We want to check in with those forearms,

Going from your elbows to your wrists,

All around that area.

Again,

Taking note if your forearms are touching any other part of your body and what that feels like for you.

Now you're on your wrists,

Moving down towards your hands,

The palm of your hand,

The backs of your hands,

Down your fingers,

All the way down to your fingertips.

Now bringing your attention to your bottom and your thighs,

Inner thighs,

Outer thighs,

Upper and back.

Noticing how that feels,

Giving it its due attention as you work your way to your knees.

If you have them,

Pay attention to them.

Check your way down to your calves and your shins for those of you who are mobile and are able to walk.

It's an area we don't pay lots of attention to,

But does so much work for us.

Down towards your ankles and all around your ankles.

Getting in with the back of your ankle,

That area,

That Achilles tendon,

That Achilles heel,

Giving some attention to it.

The top of your feet,

Your toes,

Down towards the bottom of your feet and ending at your heels.

Staying in stillness for a few more seconds,

Bring your attention back to your breath.

Finding comfort in that cadence,

In that flow of your beautiful breath.

Taking a moment to give appreciation for your lungs,

For your diaphragm,

For your nose,

For your breath.

I'd like you to set an intention in this moment while you're still just lying there,

Sitting there.

Set an intention for your day or for your night.

Maybe that's to allow yourself to feel.

As we get ready to come out of this body scan,

I want you to allow yourself the permission to move slowly and gently.

Maybe that means starting to stretch in areas that you found discomfort.

Maybe rotating ankles,

Slowly rotating wrists,

Allowing for stretches of the back or the belly,

Neck or shoulders.

Hopefully keeping your eyes closed if you closed them.

Just feeling your body first before allowing all the light in.

And if you're ready,

Now would be a good time to slowly open your eyes and allow the light in.

Taking note of where you are,

That you're somewhere safe with a moment of peace.

Taking out that breath,

Taking in a nice deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Let's do that again in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And last time in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Nice.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me and completing this body scan.

Remember that moments of discomfort and pain will pass.

You can work your way through them.

This is Dr.

Dalton with

Reviews

Thank you, such a peaceful experience.