How To Self-Guide Your Meditation: Insight Meditation With Bodyscan

Confused about how to self-guide your meditation? In this recording, Dr. Win Ark provides an example of a basic structure that you can use to create your own self-guided meditations at home. It includes a guided sample meditation with a body scan and includes an explanation along with suggested time lengths for each section of the meditation. If you wish to skip the brief tutorial and go directly to the meditation, you can skip to the 5 minute mark.

Transcript

So welcome to today's meditation.

In today's practice,

I'll be modeling a structure in which you can use for your home practice.

Oftentimes particularly when we're starting out,

It can be helpful to have a framework in which to work when we're doing a meditation without a guide.

This framework can keep our meditation from wandering or feeling too hodgepodge.

It can give us some guidance as to what we should be focusing on during different parts of the meditation.

So before I actually model the meditation,

I'll be outlining the different components of it and giving you some rough ideas of the amount of time we would spend in,

Let's say,

A 20 or 30 minute session.

So the opening part of the meditation is just to allow the mind and body to settle,

To arrive,

To release any excess tension we might be holding in the body.

And just bring some awareness,

Some basic mindfulness to the body.

So that part of the meditation might be two or three minutes.

Really as long as you need to feel like you're both relaxed and attentive.

This is the state we're trying to cultivate.

In the next part of the meditation,

We're going to concentrate the attention by focusing on the breath.

So we're going to notice the in-breath and the out-breath.

We're going to notice the quality of the breath.

Whether it's long or short,

Shallow or deep and so on.

We're going to notice how the breath appears in the body.

That part of the meditation,

That stage of the meditation will last about five minutes in a 20 to 30 minute meditation.

And then we'll move to the main body of the meditation,

Which is referred to as vipassana or insight meditation.

And in this particular meditation,

We're going to be doing a body scan,

Bringing awareness to the body,

Mindfulness to the body and sensations.

Moving from the head and moving all the way to the feet.

This part of the meditation will take approximately 15 minutes.

And then we'll move to the closing part of the meditation,

Which is loving kindness or metta meditation.

And here we'll spend about three to five minutes offering metta to ourselves,

To our loved ones and to strangers.

So let's go ahead and begin the meditation.

Go ahead and let the mind and body arrive in its space.

Bringing the tension inward into the body and just softening and relaxing any excess tension you might be holding.

Allowing the muscles to release to the extent that they can.

And then just being present,

Just making space for whatever remains.

Take some time to bring attention to various areas that typically hold tension in the body.

One area is the forehead.

Just softening and smoothing the forehead,

Allowing the tension in the forehead,

Eyebrows,

Eyelids to soften and relax.

Sometimes we furrow our brow when we're tense unconsciously.

Just letting that area soften.

Letting the eyeballs rest in their sockets,

Letting our eyes relax.

Another area that we can unconsciously tense is the jaw and jaw line.

Some of us may grind our teeth or just clench.

So just bring some conscious attention to the jaw and jaw line.

Just letting those areas relax to soften.

If we work at a computer all day,

We may hunch.

So just letting the arms hang a little more freely.

Letting them loosen.

Letting gravity take hold of them.

Not fighting gravity.

Softening the belly,

Softening the hands.

Relaxing the legs and feet.

If our feet are on the floor,

Feeling the floor supporting us.

Now we'll bring attention to the breath.

Bring mindfulness to the breath.

Breathing in,

Breathing out through the nose.

Breathing in an ordinary way,

Not forced.

As if we're letting the body breathe itself.

Breathing in,

Feeling the flow of air coming into the body.

Breathing out,

Feeling the flow of air coming out of the body.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Trying to keep the attention steady,

So as if I were to ask you randomly whether you're breathing an in-breath or an out-breath,

You would know right away in-breath,

Out-breath.

And here you might quietly ask yourself,

How do you know it's an in-breath?

What makes you think it's an out-breath?

What are you sensing in the body to let you know that it's an in-breath or an out-breath?

You can begin to sense the quality of the breath,

Whether the breath is long or short,

Shallow or deep,

Rapid or slow.

Not trying to make the breath any particular way,

But just allowing it to be and just noticing how it is in this moment.

Okay.

So as we're paying attention to the breath,

We might also notice where in the body we're noticing the breath now.

So bringing the body into greater focus.

Do we notice the breath at the nose,

The very entrance to the nostrils,

The nasal passages,

Perhaps the windpipe,

The tickle in the throat,

Perhaps in the chest?

Perhaps we're noticing movement at the ribcage,

The lungs,

The abdomen.

What are we noticing at those points?

So now that we've developed some concentration by focusing on the breath,

We're now going to perform a body scan,

Moving our attention to sensations in the body.

Starting with the top of the head,

Bring your attention to the very top of the head and just noticing whatever sensations are arising.

The sensations might be coolness,

Warmth,

Pressure,

Tingling,

Itchiness,

Whatever it is.

See if you can just be with whatever is arising.

Not trying to change it,

Not trying to alter our experience,

Just bringing awareness to it and relaxing our inherent sense of judgment,

Not wanting to push things away or cling to them or make them any different than they are.

So with this attitude in mind,

Let's bring our attention back to the head and just scanning the very top of the head,

Sensing into the head now,

The scalp.

I'm moving in small circles now,

Outward,

Scanning the top of the head,

Sides of the head,

Sensing into the area around the ears,

The earlobes,

Both on the left and right.

Sensing into the back of the head.

Now bringing attention to the forehead,

Sensing into the entire forehead area,

The eyebrows,

The eyeballs and their sockets,

The nose,

Mouth,

Lips,

Cheeks,

Sensing into the entire face now.

Feeling the face as if you're feeling it for the very first time,

As if you're wearing a mask coming up from underneath it,

Relaxing the facial muscles.

Sensing the area around the neck and shoulders now.

And starting with the top of the left arm,

The left shoulder,

Sensing into the left shoulder,

Moving down the left shoulder,

Upper left arm,

Sensing into the left elbow,

The left forearm,

The left wrist,

The left hand and left fingers.

Moving back,

Attention back up the left arm,

Across the body to the top of the right arm now,

Examining the right shoulder,

The right upper arm,

The right elbow,

Right forearm,

Wrist,

Hand,

Fingers,

Sensing into all those areas.

Moving back up the right arm now to the base of the neck on the back.

Now examining the entire back area,

Starting with the upper back,

Sensing into the upper back,

The area around the shoulder blades,

The entire mid-back area,

And sensing into the lower back area.

The lower back area is another area where we commonly hold tension,

So it's okay if you want to relax,

Again release any areas that feel maybe knotted up,

Just allowing those muscles to release,

Even ever so slightly.

But again,

Just being with whatever remains.

Those areas refuse to unwind,

Just being with whatever's there,

Being with what's present,

Not forcing anything.

Okay,

Now feeling into the hips and buttocks area,

Maybe noticing whatever we're seated on,

Feeling,

Sensing pressure of the chair beneath us perhaps,

Contact points with the seat cushion.

Okay,

Now moving to the front of the body,

The base of the throat area,

Sensing into the entire throat and neck area,

The upper chest,

Mid-chest,

Lower chest and sternum,

The entire rib cage.

Even bringing awareness to our inner organs,

This area around the rib cage,

This is where our vital organs are,

Our organs that keep us alive,

That sustain us,

That perform a myriad of functions.

Keeping aware of the inner organs,

Maybe sensations arising from the inner part of the body.

Paying attention now to the groin,

The legs,

Starting with the left leg,

The upper left leg and moving down the upper left leg,

The thigh,

Hamstring,

The large muscle of the left leg,

The knee,

The shin and calf,

The ankle and the entire left foot,

The whole of the left foot,

Sensing into the arch,

The heel,

The top of the left foot and all the toes,

The big toe and all the other toes.

And now bringing the attention up the left leg,

Across the body now to the top of the right leg and sensing into the right thigh,

Hamstring,

The right knee and all the areas around the knee,

The right shin and calf,

The right ankle and right foot and right toes.

Now coming back into the body as a whole,

Just sensing the body as a whole now.

So in this final part of the meditation,

We'll move into loving kindness or metta.

So first take a moment to direct a feeling of loving kindness to yourself in this moment.

First directing it to your heart space and then allowing that feeling to grow in the body,

Welling outwards like a warm golden glow.

And you can silently repeat yourself as you're doing this.

May I be safe?

May I be well?

May I be happy?

May I be free of suffering?

May I be safe?

May I be well?

May I be happy?

May I be free of suffering?

And one last time,

May I be safe?

May I be well?

May I be happy?

May I be free of suffering?

And now taking a moment to imagine our loved ones surrounding us,

Directing loving kindness towards us.

And then imagining in our mind's eye,

Moving around the circle and making eye contact with each one of them,

Directing a feeling of loving kindness towards them.

May they be safe?

May they be well?

May they be happy?

May they be free of suffering?

May they be safe?

May they be well?

May they be happy?

May they be free of suffering?

May they be safe?

May they be well?

May they be happy?

May they be free of suffering?

And as your eyes complete going around the circle now,

Take a moment to project out a feeling of loving kindness everywhere to all beings everywhere.

All our human cousins and also our animal friends and our connection to the plant world as well.

Everything that sustains us in this world.

Drawing out a feeling of love and kindness now in all directions to all beings everywhere.

May all beings be safe?

May all beings be well?

May all beings be happy?

May all beings be free of suffering?

May all beings be safe?

May all beings be well?

May all beings be happy?

May all beings be free of suffering.

May all beings be safe?

May all beings be well.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be free of suffering.

So that concludes the meditation.

I hope you enjoyed it.

And I hope you can use that structure to help develop your own practice.

And you can use that structure as a guide.

You don't have to stick with it exactly.

You can make some modifications as your practice develops.

Lengthen or shorten certain areas that you want to focus on.

But hopefully it'll serve as a useful starting point.

I hope to talk to you again in a future meditation.

Be well.

Metta.

Reviews

Really wonderful holistic guided meditation.

Very, very helpful!

Beautiful meditation and so calming!!