Part by Part Body Scan

This body scan includes a 1 minute introduction and is inspired by Jon Kabat Zinn, his colleagues and holders of all mindfulness traditions throughout the ages.

Transcript

The body scan.

In this practice we will be doing a part by part body scan.

Scanning the body trains us to be more focused and present,

And so you will be asked to sense into various parts of your body and being present to your experience with openness and curiosity.

We are training the brain to be able to register sensations and also not necessarily react to them.

Many times throughout the practice your mind will wander,

And this isn't a problem,

It's just an ordinary part of the practice.

So as soon as you notice a thought,

An impulse,

A memory,

The to-do list,

Simply registering whatever's here and choosing to refocus on whatever body part we are paying attention to.

We're practicing refocusing and sustaining attention on the body without so much reactivity.

And some sensations may feel very subtle,

Barely perceptible,

While others may be quite intense.

As you go through each part,

Let yourself be in touch with your body exactly how it is.

Sensing it,

The shape of each part of your body,

Texture of your skin,

Or the feeling in the tissues,

The muscles,

The bones.

But don't worry if you don't feel anything in a particular part,

Just staying with this activity of focusing your attention there and accepting whatever your awareness reveals,

Even if it's numbness or blankness,

Simply noticing blankness.

And also remembering that the intention of this practice is not to immediately feel better or more relaxed,

Although that may well happen.

The intention is to simply notice whatever we're feeling in the body,

Bringing awareness to each moment and the experience of each moment as best you can.

So let's begin.

So settling into your posture,

Whether that be sitting,

Lying,

Standing.

And as you settle into stillness,

You may notice the mind still busy,

Thoughts swimming around.

So noticing where the mind is and taking some time just to arrive,

Arrive in the body.

So quite deliberately allowing the attention to fall from the head and land in this body and all the immediate physical sensations of your posture.

You may notice sensations generated by the contact you're making with the chair,

Cushion,

Stool,

Floor.

Feeling into the whole body,

Sitting,

Lying or standing.

And now turning your attention to the process of breathing,

Noticing that you're breathing right now.

So feeling the touch of this breath as it's moving in and out of your body.

And then letting go of focusing on breathing and shifting your attention so that it's resting in the sole of the left foot.

Feeling all the sensations here from the heel through to the ball,

Toes.

Also sensing into the sides of the foot.

And the top.

And now letting go of focusing in on the foot and moving attention up through the left ankle.

What can you feel here if anything?

And making your way up the lower leg,

The shin and the calf.

And now exploring sensations in the left knee.

Feeling the position of the knee,

Sensations at the surface or deeper inside the knee.

And now moving attention to the left thigh,

The top,

The sides,

The back.

Feeling whatever there is to feel in this left thigh right now.

Including the left hip.

And quite deliberately expanding the field of attention to include the whole of your left leg.

So from the hip all the way down to the foot.

And again quite deliberately narrowing the focus of our attention and placing it in the sole of the right foot now.

So noticing how we can decide where to place our attention from moment to moment.

Noticing whatever the sensations are here to be felt in this right foot.

You can feel into the arch,

The ball,

The underside of the toes,

The top side.

Sides of the foot,

The top of the foot.

And now letting go of the foot and moving attention to the right ankle.

And in your own way and in your own time opening to sensations throughout the right lower leg.

You might notice sensations at the level of skin or muscle,

Maybe even bone.

And now exploring sensations in the right knee.

Removing the attention up through to the thigh,

All the different parts of this thigh.

Including the right hip now.

And many times your mind will wander off to other topics.

Simply noticing this and bringing your attention back and rather than scolding yourself.

Noticing this movement away as thinking,

Coming back to the task at hand,

Which is feeling sensations.

So in fact this mind wandering gives us an opportunity to practice acceptance of the nature of our wandering minds.

And now shifting our focus of attention so that we're becoming aware of sensations throughout the pelvis and the buttocks.

And moving attention up through to the lower back.

What is it you can feel here if anything?

And allowing the attention to travel up through to the middle of the back.

And the upper back.

You may even want to take a fuller breath here and you may feel the subtle movements of breathing here.

The back of the ribs.

Bringing curiosity to each of the sensations as we feel into the texture of them.

And as you do this you may notice some emotions arising,

Irritation,

Pleasure,

Boredom,

Relaxation.

All just feelings.

Simply noticing them and letting them go and coming back to this direct moment experience of sensations.

And for now placing your attention in the front of your torso to the belly.

And again here you might notice sensations of breathing perhaps.

Slight increase in pressure as you breathe in.

Releasing sensations as you breathe out.

So allowing the attention to make its way up through the front of the body here.

Feeling into the diaphragm.

Up through the chest.

Feeling into the ribs.

You may notice the muscles between the ribs or the movements of the lungs in breathing.

You may even be able to sense the heart beating.

And then expanding the field of attention to simply feel into the whole of the torso,

Front and back.

And again deliberately narrowing attention and now placing it in the fingers in your left hand.

What are the sensations here?

The sensations in the palm of the hand which may feel different to the back of your hand,

Fingers,

Thumb.

You're now moving to your wrist and the left lower arm.

Feeling any or all sensations in the elbow.

And through to the left upper arm.

How it connects in with the shoulder.

Having a sense of your whole left arm and shoulder.

How does it feel in this moment?

And now bringing the spotlight of your awareness down to your right hand.

Checking out sensations in the fingers,

The thumb,

The palm,

Back of the hand.

And also sensing into your right wrist.

You might notice sensations of pulsing here perhaps,

Perhaps not.

And feeling into any or all sensations in the lower right arm,

Right through to the elbow.

And now exploring your right upper arm for sensations.

What's here to be felt,

Sensed,

Known in this moment?

Including now the right shoulder.

And then expanding the attention a little to include both shoulders.

Cultivating this flexibility of attention,

Sometimes our focus quite narrow,

Other times more broad.

And now refocusing our attention to the back of the neck.

And opening to any or all sensations in the sides and the front of the neck.

Might even notice sensations in the throat area.

And now moving the attention up through to the chin and the jaw.

What can you feel in your cheeks?

Sensing into the lips.

And sensations inside the mouth,

The teeth,

The tongue.

And now noticing any sensations at the nostrils.

Up through to the bridge of the nose.

Being present to sensations in the eyes.

Including the eyelids,

Eyelashes,

Eyebrows.

And now scanning the forehead for sensations.

Whether it be at the surface or deeper inside behind the forehead.

Including sensations at the temples.

Down to the ears.

And the sides of the head.

Whether there be sensations at the scalp or maybe deeper inside this head.

Feeling into the back of your head.

And now widening your focus of attention to include the whole head and face.

And perhaps taking a deeper breath and having a sense of breathing into the whole of your body from the head all the way down through to the toes.

And we're simply being with our experience of sensations in the body as they are.

Nothing to be done,

Nothing to be undone.

Being present in our bodies without needing them to be different right now.

Thank you.

Reviews

A very good dream-like meditation.

Excellent, thank you!

Great body scan thank you

Clear instructions for an effective body scan. Great way to start my day!

Loved this scan! Clear, thorough, pace, bells all worked well. Beaut accent 😊.. Thanks Elizabeth 💖🌟💛🙏