Embodying Radiance Through A Body Scan Meditation

Welcome to this body scan meditation starting off with a passage from Lorin Roche's Radiance Sutras. We'll anchor ourselves by bringing our attention to the breath. Then we'll guide our awareness through the mandala of the body, listening for physical sensations and becoming aware of the body's radiance and liveliness. If we notice the mind getting distracted, we may gently guide our attention back to the body and breath without judgment.

Transcript

I will invite the bell to start us off.

So taking in the sound of the bell,

Making any movement that's needed to find ourselves in a comfortable and stable position.

We could lie down,

We could be standing or seated.

Just taking a moment to feel the body in the space and with the breath collecting our attention.

And before we go into our body scan,

I'd like to read from the Radiant Sutras,

Reminding us of the beauty and the radiance of the body.

3.

Attend to the skin as a subtle boundary containing vastness.

Enter that pulsing immensity.

Discover that you are not separate from anything there.

There is no inside.

There is no outside.

There is no other.

No object to meditate upon that is not you.

4.

Feeling back into our breathing.

Maybe noticing the breath as it's entering through the nostrils.

Maybe feeling the breath at the belly rising and falling.

Perhaps the mind is becoming more and more steady.

It could also be that it's wandering off,

And that is normal.

So whenever we notice the mind floating away,

We can perhaps just note thinking,

Planning,

Daydreaming,

And with a kind attention,

Inviting the mind back either to the body maybe as it's connecting to the floor through the feet or connecting to the chair through our thighs and sitting bones.

Or we could simply notice our breathing,

Inhaling,

And exhaling.

And I will guide us through the mandala of the body in a gentle,

Brief body scan starting with the feet.

So you may like to bring your attention to the feet,

Just noticing as the feet are maybe resting on the floor.

If you're seated or standing,

Maybe the heels are making contact with the floor if you're lying down.

Are there any sensations in the feet?

Perhaps just noticing your socks or your shoes in contact with your feet.

Any warmth,

Any coldness,

Any vibration there.

And then up to the ankles,

Feeling into the ankles.

Any spaciousness on the inside of the ankles.

Up to our shins,

Feeling our shins,

The bones,

And feeling the calf muscles.

Any tightness,

Tension,

Warmth,

Tingling.

The backs of the knees.

Noticing our thighs,

Maybe feeling the clothing in contact with our thighs.

Any vibration,

Any tingling,

Any warmth.

And then up to the buttocks,

Maybe noticing our weight as the buttocks are making contact with the chair,

Or with the sofa,

Or with the bed.

And then up to the pelvic region,

Feeling around here.

Then to the lower belly and the entire abdominal area,

Maybe noticing the breath.

Taking some time here at the abdomen.

Are you noticing any tension?

Nerves?

Spaciousness?

Quiet?

How about the lower back and the mid-back?

Feeling the entire torso.

Feeling the strength of your spine and the muscles.

Are the muscles aligned with your spine?

And the muscles,

Are the muscles along the spine showing up today?

What about the space between the shoulder blades?

Any tension,

Any spaciousness,

Any tingling?

How about the chest?

Wideness?

Softness?

Heartbeat?

Taking a moment to feel around.

And then the shoulders,

The upper arms.

What are you sensing in the upper arms?

Maybe noticing a gentle breeze or the temperature of the air on your skin.

How about the elbows and the lower arms?

The wrist,

Can you feel into the inside of the wrists?

What about the hands?

The palms,

Any moisture,

Dryness?

Simply feeling the air between your fingers.

And then coming back up to the neck,

The throat.

Does the throat feel spacious and soft?

Or is it feeling tight and constricted?

Up to the jaw,

Inside of the mouth,

Looking around,

Feeling around.

Nostrils,

Ears,

Eyes.

How's the forehead feeling in this moment?

What can you notice there?

Wrinkling the forehead or is it soft and spacious?

And now the entire skin covering the face and the whole head.

The skin covering the whole body.

On the top of the head,

Down through the torso,

The legs and the arms,

Down into the feet.

How's the body feeling?

Just noticing the entire body as a whole,

Situated here,

Breathing.

Noticing also where the mind is.

Is it here with the body or is it somewhere else?

Planning,

Thinking,

And trying not to judge it in any way.

And when you're ready,

You may like to start bringing some gentle movement into the body,

Maybe moving the fingers,

Moving the head left,

Right,

Up,

Down.

Just taking one more long and deep breath.

And you'll hear the sound of a bell again.

When you're ready,

You may come back fully and open your eyes.