Breath-Based Body Scan

This gentle meditation takes us on a journey through our bodies, using the breath to infuse each body part with awareness. It is suitable for everyone, and can be used in the morning for calm, or in the evening to prepare for sleep.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this simple breath-based body scan meditation.

First make sure that you're sitting comfortably or lying with support under your knees,

That you're warm enough and that you won't be disturbed.

I invite you to gently take in your surroundings,

The room that you're in,

Just noticing the space that you're in.

And when you feel ready,

Closing your eyes or lowering your gaze on a point in front of you.

Welcome yourself back to your body from wherever you've been today.

Notice the point of contact of your body with the surface that you're sitting on or lying on,

The warmth,

The pressure,

The temperature of the air,

Maybe the feel of the clothes on your skin.

Notice that you are breathing with the air flowing in and out.

Maybe you're sensing it particularly at the nostrils,

Cold air flowing in,

Warmer air flowing out,

Or maybe at the belly,

Gently swelling and subsiding.

And take a moment as well to just notice the inner weather today,

Whether your thoughts are busy,

Whether there's a feeling tone to your experience just now,

Maybe any physical sensations that call out to you as you get ready to connect that little bit more to your inner experience.

We'll just start by taking three deep breaths,

Deeper than you would usually breathe,

Just to help us land a little bit more in your own time.

Taking one deep inhale,

Filling the lungs,

And a slow,

Gentle exhale,

Relaxing,

Letting go.

Another deep inhale,

Freely filling the lungs,

Sensing the sensations of fullness.

Long,

Slow exhale,

Softening around the neck,

The shoulders.

And one last time,

Deep inhale in your own time,

And a long,

Slow exhale,

Softening the muscles around the eyes,

The forehead,

The face,

Letting your breath resume its natural rhythm.

And now that we're a bit reacquainted with our breath,

I'm going to use it to support a gentle body scan.

So I'm just going to name parts of the body,

And as I name them,

The invitation is to shine a soft light of awareness on that part,

Just noticing what's there,

Without judgment.

And we can use the breath to help us do this by breathing in awareness in that part,

And breathing out,

Encouraging a softening and a relaxing.

So we're going to start with our feet,

Breathing in awareness,

Breathing out softening.

With each breath,

Deepening your awareness in that body part.

What is the sensation in your feet?

Pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral?

Just noticing what's there with each breath.

Moving up to our ankles,

Breathing in awareness,

Breathing out softening.

Using the breath to shine the light of awareness in and around the ankle joint,

Noticing the sensations there.

Breathing in awareness to our calves and shins,

Noticing.

Shining that light on our calves and shins,

Breathing in awareness to our knees,

Breathing out,

Softening into it.

Moving up to our thighs,

Breathing in awareness into the thighs,

Breathing out,

Softening.

What sensations do you notice in your thighs today?

Pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral?

Remember no judgment.

Now moving to the back of our thighs,

Breathing in that light of awareness,

Breathing out,

Inviting a softening.

Muscles loosening their grip around the bone.

Moving up to our bum,

Breathing in awareness there,

Breathing out,

Softening.

This is a good place to feel the contact of your body with the external world.

Just noticing the sensations there.

Moving up to our hips and pelvis,

Breathing in awareness to the whole pelvic bowl,

Breathing out,

Softening.

Shining that light of awareness to the whole pelvic region and all the organs there,

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Moving up to the belly,

You might sense the breath there,

The sensations of the breath pushing your belly out,

Letting it subside.

Breathing in awareness there,

Into the organs as well that the belly protects.

Soft light of awareness all around the belly,

Breathing in and breathing out.

Moving up to the waist and the chest,

The torso,

Breathing in awareness in the whole torso,

Breathing out,

Softening.

Deepening with every breath.

Up into the shoulders,

Breathing in awareness,

Breathing out,

Softening.

No judgment,

Just noticing what's there.

Pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral sensations.

And we're going to shine our awareness in our lower back now,

Going back around the body,

The body,

Breathing in to the lower back,

Softening as we breathe out.

When your mind wanders,

Just bringing it back very gently.

In fact,

Celebrating that you caught your mind wandering and you brought it back.

It's a moment of awareness,

A moment of coming back to presence.

Going up the back to the mid-back.

See if you can breathe awareness into the mid-back.

And going up to the upper back,

The shoulder blades and between,

Breathing awareness there,

As if with each breath you are expanding a soft light into that body part.

Letting your awareness and your breath travel down the arms.

Breathing in awareness to the upper arms,

Softening as you breathe out.

Breathing into the elbows,

Becoming aware of what's going on in your elbows.

Just noticing without judgment,

Swirling that breath of awareness around the elbow joint,

Softening and relaxing.

Down to the lower arms,

Letting the breath of awareness swirl around your lower arms,

Into your wrists and your hands.

You might feel tingling sensations there in your palms and fingers.

Breathing into your hands,

Letting the awareness swoop back up the arms into the neck and the throat.

Breathing awareness into the neck and the throat,

Breathing out,

Softening.

There's often a lot happening around the throat and the neck.

What does the light of awareness reveal to you?

Moving up into the jaw and the chin.

Noticing what that breath of awareness in the jaw and the chin does to the muscles around the bones there,

Softening.

Breathing awareness into your lips,

What's it like to soften around the lips?

What are you finding there?

And breathing in awareness into your teeth,

The inside of your mouth.

Could we soften our gums and our tongue?

What happens when we breathe in awareness in and around our mouth?

And breathing awareness around the nostrils and the nose.

Breathing awareness into your cheeks and around to your ears.

What's it like to breathe awareness into your ears?

And then around the eye sockets and the eyes.

Breathing awareness,

Softening as you breathe out.

Breathing into the bridge of the nose,

Into the forehead,

Softening that brow.

Breathing awareness into the back of your head and the top of your head.

The sensations may be very subtle.

And what if you could breathe awareness in and around your brain,

Softening the brain?

We don't tend to do that very often.

It's just an experiment,

Noticing what happens.

And finally,

Breathing in awareness through your whole body.

Expanding that light of awareness to all your limbs,

All your organs and your skin.

Breathing in through every pore,

Into every cell.

Breathing out,

Softening every cell and every pore.

And every pore.

We'll take a few moments now in silence,

Just to be with the effects of this practice.

For the last minute or so,

Just start reconnecting to your physical body by moving your toes a little bit,

Wriggling your fingers,

Maybe taking a deep breath and having a stretch.

Whatever movement feels natural at this point.

If you feel called to,

You can place a hand on your heart and gently bow your head,

Thanking yourself for your practice,

For your presence.

And then gently opening your eyes when you're ready.

Thank you so much for joining me in this practice today.

I wish you a wonderful rest of the day or night.

Many blessings.

Reviews

Thanks, Dri. That was perhaps the most relaxing and gentle body scan I’ve ever done. A great technique. Thanks again, hope you’re well 🙏🏼