Body Scan 30 Minutes

This is a 30-minute version of the Body Scan from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Elisha will gently guide your awareness through your body, relieving tension and stresses.

Transcript

Welcome to the body scan.

Please listen to the following guided meditation in a relaxed environment,

Turning off any distractions such as cell phones or alarms.

And choosing a posture that's conducive to this body scan such as lying down or if you find yourself falling asleep,

Try a more upright posture.

And we can begin by welcoming ourselves to this moment.

And if we can acknowledging the active choice of taking this time out of daily busyness for our own health and well-being,

This is an act of self-care.

And so beginning by just getting a sense of this body here,

Connecting to the fact that we have this body at all.

And beginning to become aware of our breathing.

Just noticing where you're aware of the breath most prominently.

It may be the nostrils or the tip of the nose,

Perhaps the chest or the belly.

And breathing in and being aware of the breath coming in.

And breathing out and being aware of the breath going out as it's happening,

Moment to moment.

Noticing the breath coming in on an inhalation and going out on an exhalation.

And as best you can adopting a beginner's mind through this practice,

Noticing the breath as if for the very first time.

And so breathing in and breathing out,

Welcoming in the inhalation and sending off the exhalation.

And even getting curious about this breath.

If we can follow the inhalation,

Noticing the space between the inhalation and the exhalation or that natural transition point.

Just taking this practice one breath And if at any point during this practice you find the mind wandering off,

Thinking about this or worrying about that,

A memory,

A dream,

Just note that the mind has been wandering or thinking.

Maybe even taking a snapshot of where it wandered to.

And gently guiding it back to breathing.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

And letting be.

And in a moment we'll begin this body scan meditation.

And in doing this practice we're paying attention to sensations of the body as they are.

And sensations may be variable.

May notice sensations of heat or coolness,

Achiness,

Itchiness,

Pulsing,

Pressure,

Tension,

Tightness,

Maybe heaviness or lightness.

A whole field of sensations rising and falling throughout the body at any given moment.

Or perhaps there's places in the body where there's no sensation.

And if that's the case,

Just being aware of no sensation.

And just letting it be.

And now bringing awareness to the sole of the left foot.

Noticing sensations in the bottom of the foot,

The toes,

The top of the foot,

And all the way up into the ankle joint.

Just feeling into this part of the body with the beginner's mind as if this was the first time ever noticing these sensations before.

And just being aware of what's here.

And gently moving awareness up from the foot and ankle into the lower part of the left leg.

Feeling into the lower left leg,

Including the calf,

The shin,

And all the way up into the knee joint.

Just feeling into this lower left leg with awareness.

Knowing there's no need to create any sensations or strive to change anything that's there.

Or simply being aware of what's here and letting it be.

And bringing awareness up from the lower part of the left leg and moving up now to the upper part of the left leg.

Feeling into the hamstrings,

Feeling into the left quadricep.

And also perhaps even noticing the density of this part of the body.

Knowing that whatever sensations are here are not good or bad or right or wrong.

We're simply after the direct experience of what's here right now.

Just exploring,

Being aware.

Now,

Gently and intentionally making the choice to shift attention from the left leg over to the right leg now,

Starting with the right foot.

Feeling into the right foot,

Noticing sensations in the bottom of the foot,

The toes,

The top of the foot,

And up into the ankle joint.

Feeling into this entire right foot with awareness.

And just noticing what's there.

Guiding attention now up from the right foot and ankle into the lower part of the right leg,

Feeling into the lower part of the right leg,

The right calf,

The right shin,

And up into the right knee joint,

Being aware of the entirety of this lower part of the leg.

And if the mind has drifted from beginner's mind,

Gently bringing it back,

Being curious about what's here.

And now intentionally choosing to shift from the lower part of the right leg up into the upper part of the right leg,

Being aware of sensations in the hamstrings and the quadriceps.

Here's a moment in the day where you don't have to do anything or just practicing being with what's here,

Connecting with this part of the body.

And now shifting up from the right leg into the hip region,

Feeling into the hip region with awareness,

Noticing sensations in the buttocks,

Noticing sensations in the genitals,

And also being aware of two great systems within,

One of elimination in the bowels and also reproduction,

Being aware of this entire hip region and whatever sensations arise or pass away,

Just letting them be.

Okay?

And gently bringing the mind back of its wandered,

Feeling into the hip region,

No need to analyze or figure anything out,

Just allowing what's here to be as it is,

And just being aware.

Now shifting attention up from the hip region and moving awareness into the back,

Starting with the lower back,

Noticing sensations in the lower back,

And at your own pace gently moving up vertebrae by vertebrae up into the upper back,

Knowing the back is often a place where many of us hold many emotions,

Frustration,

Tension,

Fear,

Calm,

Even joy.

So if there are any emotions that arise,

Restlessness,

Boredom,

Just seeing if you can notice how those emotions manifest in the body as sensations,

And applying mindfulness to them,

Being aware of what's here without judgment,

Not good or bad or right or wrong,

This is just the experience in the moment,

And we're applying a beginner's mind to it,

As if this was the first time we were noticing these feelings,

And just letting them be.

In this moment noticing there's a space,

A choice,

As we choose to shift now from the back,

Moving over the shoulders,

And now moving into the left arm,

Noticing sensations in the upper part of the arm,

The biceps,

The tricep,

Down into the elbow,

And being aware of the elbow as one of the joints in the body,

Helping us move and bend,

Giving us mobility,

These joints often the unsung heroes of this body,

And so just being aware of the feeling here in the left elbow,

And gently moving down into the left forearm,

Noticing sensations in the forearm,

Feeling down into the wrist,

And into the hand,

Top of the hand,

The palm,

The fingers and thumb,

Been noticing perhaps the space,

The air in between the fingers,

And now shifting from the left arm and moving over to the right arm,

Being aware of sensations in the upper part of the arm,

The bicep and tricep,

Down to the right elbow,

To the right forearm,

Feeling down into the wrist,

Noticing the sensation of the wrist as if for the very first time,

Down to the right hand,

Top of the hand,

The palm,

To the fingers,

Thumb,

To the space between the fingers,

And gently now shifting attention from the arm,

The right arm,

Into the abdomen,

Breathing in perhaps noticing how the belly rises naturally,

Breathing out noticing how the belly falls,

So being aware of sensations in this abdomen region,

And also within and noticing how the belly feels within,

Is there a crampiness or a tightness or fullness or a lightness or perhaps a just rightness,

Whatever is there,

Just allowing it to be as it is,

Letting it be,

And gently now moving awareness up from the abdomen and into the chest,

Noticing sensations in the skin of the chest,

The breasts,

Beneath there even to the sternum,

In the rib cage,

Breathing in noticing how the rib cage may slightly expand,

Breathing out noticing how it slightly contracts,

And also beneath there to two vital systems,

One of circulation in the heart and also ventilation in the lungs,

So being aware of this entire chest region,

Also knowing that the chest is often a place where we hold many of our emotions,

Sadness perhaps is a heaviness in the chest,

Anxiety as a constriction or tightness,

Fear,

Or if there's a restlessness or boredom,

These may come out in this region as well,

So again bringing a beginner's mind to whatever emotions may be here as they manifest as sensations in the body,

If there are no emotions just neutral feelings,

Just being aware of that.

Now gently moving up from the chest region into the shoulders,

Noticing sensations in the shoulders,

Another place where many of us hold much of our stress and tension,

So seeing if we can look upon this area with a kind attention,

A warm attention,

And just letting be.

And now intentionally choosing to move up from there into the neck,

Noticing sensations in the neck,

And moving up from there into the jaw,

The jaw being one of the most exercised parts of the body,

Home of communication,

And also where we take in our food and drink,

So noticing the feelings in the jaw,

And also within to the gums and teeth and tongue,

And feeling up from there to the cheeks,

The nose and the nasal passageways,

Breathing in,

Noticing the sensation of the breath coming in,

Breathing out,

Noticing the sensation of the breath going out,

And bringing awareness up from there into the area between the eyes,

Another area where many of us hold much tension or tightness,

Noticing the feelings around the eyes,

The muscles around the eyes,

And even the eyeballs themselves,

Moving up from there into the forehead,

Feeling into the forehead,

To the side of the head,

The temples,

Noticing the choice to move up from there to the top of the head,

Feeling into the top of the head,

The scalp,

To the back of the scalp,

And the sides of the scalp,

Feeling this entire scalp,

And from there to the ears and the earlobes,

Feeling into the skull,

Then that is a brain,

Having a sense of this entire head,

Where we spend much of our time.

And now,

Seeing if we can withdraw awareness from the head and shoulders and torso and arms and hands and hips,

Legs and feet,

We come back to breathing,

So breathing normally,

Breathing naturally,

And just noticing this breath on the inhalation,

The shift to the exhalation,

And all the way through to the exhalation,

Being aware of this natural inflow and outflow,

And just resting attention on breathing,

Much like a fallen leaf can rest on a ripple of water,

So too we can rest our attention on the natural in and out of the breath.

Breathing in,

Noticing how this whole body slightly expands,

Breathing out,

Noticing how the whole body slightly contracts,

Being aware of this breathing and this body as connected and whole.

And in a moment you'll hear the sound of a bell and that'll be the end of this practice,

And until then just acknowledging the active choice of taking this time for your own health and well-being.

This is an act of self-care,

Some may even say an act of self-love,

And so taking a moment to see if you can even thank yourself for taking this time.

You

Reviews

Great practice for beginner’s to connect and attune attention to the body.

Very relaxing. Reninders with very good timing. I highly recommend 🙏

Excellent I listened to this guided meditation in my sauna… double win in self care…

I wish he articulate more when he speaks. I am not a perfect English speaker and it was hard to understand in some parts. I enjoyed the meditation, I am practicing scan body these days.

Great body scan with suitable periods of silence and reference being made to the self care/love I was providing myself with really made this a special body scan meditation. Thank you

Wonderful ! Really appreciate all the silent spaces.

Very nice gentle body scan. Liked the quiet pauses..just enough instruction. Many thanks. ☮️💖🙏🖖🪷

An excellent body scan with just the right amount of guidance and with a gentle, soft voice.

Very helpful. Good script. Calming voice without any unnecessary distracting music or other sounds. Thank you!

Best body scan I use. There are shorter ones; but, this is worth the thirty minutes.

The pace and guidance were perfectly balanced. I also appreciated that there was no music, as this practice is all about a non-rective state of mind. Much appreciated 🙏

Thanks for your lovely meditation. May the joy be with you. Nàmaste

Very calming and thorough body scan practice. I appreciate my body & give it gratitude for all its hard work!

This was a very relaxing body scan me and my grandmother enjoyed it very much thank you

I really enjoyed this ! Have done JKZ body scan often but wanted a change and this was great ! Will be using this more frequently. Thank you 🙏

This was fantastic, many thanks. I will listen to more of your meditations. 🙏

As someone who somehow doesn’t connect as well (yet) with the body scan practice, this one brought me closest so far to “getting” it. Thank you! 🙏🌸

First time ever doing long time medication. Was able to stay focused while without letting anxiety getting in the way as much. Thank you. Will be trying this again soon!

Added immediately to my personal playlist. The voice is neither soporific nor elevating , even toned and calming. The pacing and choice of words were most helpful as well.

The most beneficial body scan meditation I have heard. Thank you.