Short Body Scan

In today's world, it is easy to be disconnected from our body, but it is here in our body that true wisdom and understanding live. In this short 10-minute body scan, we take 10 precious moments to reconnect with ourselves, with kindness, curiosity, and gentle attention.

A gift to ourselves.

Transcript

Welcome to this 10 minute body scanned mindfulness practice. To start this meditation, I'm going to ring the bell, And I'm going to invite you to listen to the sound of the bell until the very, Very end. Get into a comfortable position, And that may be lying down, You may be sitting up, You may be leaning against a wall. If you want, You can get a pillow or a blanket to help you feel more comfortable. And just take a moment and notice the contact that your body has with the floor, Or the seat, Or the wall behind you. Begin to notice your breath, Just feeling it as it moves through your body. You might feel the air as it gently moves through your nose or your mouth. Or you might notice your breath rising and falling in your chest, Or your tummy. Don't try to change your breathing. Just noticing how it's naturally occurring right here, Right now. And if you have a pain or a discomfort that you're noticing, Imagine the air from your breath flowing to that part of your body. And imagine on the out breath, The discomfort leaving with the air. We're going to imagine now you have a spotlight and that spotlight is your attention. Wherever you shine, That spotlight is where you notice. So we're going to start the body scan, Shining that spotlight on the toes of your right foot. Try to feel each toe and the spaces between them without moving them. Picture your breath at the tip of your toes. Slowly move your awareness to the bottom of your right foot, To the ball of the foot, And then to the heel and what's in contact with them right now. If you can't feel much of anything, Just notice what it feels like to feel nothing. That's okay. That's your experience right now. And after a few moments, Move to the top of your right foot and your ankle. Now shine that spotlight and start noticing your lower right leg, Your calf muscle, Your knee and your upper thigh. Notice all the muscles in your leg. And try to see and feel if your leg has contact with the surface beneath it. Once you've reached your right hip, Move across to your left hip and start scanning down your leg from your upper thigh to your knee, To your left calf, All the way down to your foot, Your ankle and your toes. Now move that spotlight up to your stomach, Again noticing the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe. What does that feel like right now? What are you noticing? And move that spotlight up to your chest, Your lungs and your ribs. Noticing how the top of your body there moves as you breathe. And try to feel your heartbeat. And slowly moving your attention, Moving that spotlight to the top of your chest and to your collarbone and your neck. Everywhere your spotlight shines, Just noticing the sensations in your body that you're feeling in this moment. Now I want you to shine that spotlight down your right shoulder and down your arms slowly until you get to your fingers. Notice the palm of your hand and the back of your hand. If you want you can wiggle your fingers. And bringing your spotlight back up to your left shoulder and scanning down your left arm, Slowly noticing all the parts of your left arm, All the way down to your wrist, Your hand and your fingers. And as you're doing this, You may sometimes get caught up in thoughts, Distracted, Which is fine because that's what our minds do. So very gently, Just noticing, Where is my mind gone? And gently bringing it back to wherever we are in the body scan. And at the moment we're shining that spotlight on our hand. Now take your spotlight to the top of your back, Near your neck, Moving your spotlight of attention down your back from the top to the bottom, Noticing all the muscles and noticing your spine. Can you feel your spine? What does it feel like right now? Noticing any tension that you might have, Any tightness and any contact that your body is making with the chair or the floor. And finally noticing your neck again and shining that spotlight on your head, On the back of your head, The top of your head, The sides and your ears. Can you feel your ears? And finally shifting your attention to your face, Noticing the forehead, Your nose, Your eyebrows and your eyes, Your cheeks, Your lips and your mouth, Your tongue, Your chin. And finally, We're going to finish by noticing the whole body. Just imagine that light shining down, Warm light on your whole body, Feeling as much as you can sitting here or lying here in this moment right now. To finish this meditation, I'm going to ring the bell again. So just listening to the sound as long as it goes.