Choose a posture that's comfortable and respects the needs of your body as it is today.
Options include lying down on your back,
Sitting upright in a chair,
Or lying on your back with your lower legs resting on the seat of a chair.
Choose a posture that brings wakefulness to the practice and a place where you will be undisturbed with minimal distractions.
This should be a space where you are able to feel at ease.
Allow the eyes of the body to close or lower your gaze.
Allow the breath to move with ease throughout the body.
This practice is an opportunity to bring gentle attention to your body,
A chance to practice self-care.
The intention of the practice is to bring kind attention to any sensations that you notice within the body.
The intention of this practice is not to feel any differently or to get relaxed,
Which may or may not happen.
As you begin to enter the world of being rather than doing,
You may notice a range of emotions that you've been carrying with you.
There's no need to judge,
Analyze,
Or figure anything out right now.
Just allow yourself to be in the moment with all that's right here.
When you feel ready,
Bring your attention to the movement of the breath,
The inhale and exhale,
Breathing in and knowing you're breathing in and breathing out,
Knowing that you're breathing out.
On each out breath,
Allow yourself to let go and sink a little deeper into the surface that's supporting you.
Gently shift your attention to the body and bring awareness to the sensations of touch or pressure where the body makes contact with the chair,
Bed,
Or floor.
Rest into the support.
If during your body scan,
You detect a sensation that's pleasant,
You may feel an urge to hang on to it.
If so,
Relax,
Open up and see if you can be with the sensation of pleasure without clinging to it.
If you detect a sensation that's painful,
You may notice an inclination to want to push it away.
Or you may notice anger or fear that arise with the unpleasant sensation.
If you notice any of these reactions,
See if you can simply notice them and come back to the direct experience of the moment.
What is the actual sensation of pleasure or pain?
Feel it directly without interpretation or judgment.
If the pain or discomfort ever feels like too much,
Know that you can always bring your attention back to the breath.
If the pain or discomfort ever feels like too much,
Know that you can always bring your attention back to the breath.
Bring awareness to your feet.
Notice the sensations in the feet and where you feel contact of your feet with the floor.
Feel the heels,
The balls of the feet,
And the soles of the feet.
Feel into the toes and the space between the toes.
Feel into the tops of the feet and back into the Achilles tendon.
And gently move your attention up into the ankles.
Bring your attention up into the legs.
Feel into the lower legs.
Feeling into the calves,
The shins,
And their connection to the knees.
Bring kind attention to the sensations in your lower legs and your knees.
As you practice,
See if it's possible to bring an attitude of willingness,
A willingness to be with what's right here,
Right now.
See if it's possible to bring a sense of curiosity to the practice,
To the experience of this moment without judgment or feeling like you need to do anything or fix anything.
This is a time to be with yourself fully.
It is also a time to experience the body as ever-changing,
Dynamic,
And fully alive.
Allow your attention to move up into the thighs and the sensations in the upper legs.
Feel into their connection with the hips.
Bring your attention to the tailbone and move your attention into your lower back,
Middle back,
And upper back.
Feel the different sensations that are present or arise in the back of the body.
As you bring your attention here,
Allow any tightness to soften and let be what's not softening.
Now move your attention into the shoulder blades.
Down into the upper arms,
The elbows,
The forearms.
Allow your attention to move into the wrists,
The top of the hand,
The palm,
And down into the fingertips.
Gently guide your attention into the shoulders and then up into the neck.
Be present with any sensations that are right here in this moment within the neck or shoulders.
Be present with any sensations,
Thoughts,
Or emotions that arise as you focus your attention on this part of the body.
Now gently guide your attention to the back of the head.
Notice any sensations that you feel within the scalp.
Bring attention into the ears,
Noticing any sensation present here,
And then move your attention inside your head.
And into the brain,
Be present with what's right here.
Now gently shift your attention to the forehead and the temples,
Down into the eyes and the muscles around the eyes.
Bring your attention into the nose and the sinus passages that go deep inside the head.
Feel into the cheeks and now move your attention into the mouth,
The teeth,
The tongue,
The lips.
Bring your attention down into the jaw.
Move your attention down into the throat.
Be present with the sensations that are present here in the throat as you bring kind attention to this area of your body.
Now bring your attention into the chest,
Into the heart and the lungs.
Bringing kind attention to the heart and the lungs.
Be present with what's right here,
The rib cage,
The sternum,
The heart beating.
Now bring your attention down into the belly,
The home of a digestion and assimilation.
Feeling into your abdomen with kind attention,
And letting be.
And now bring your attention down into the pelvic region.
Bringing kind attention to any sensations that you feel with inside the pelvic bowl.
Now expand the field of awareness to the entire body,
The entire body here in this time and space.
Notice the various physical sensations,
Thoughts or emotions.
Be present with what's here right now in this moment as you sit here or lie here.
See if you can continue to feel into the world of sensations and all of its changes moment by moment.
Notice the waves of sensations as they move through you moment by moment.
As you come to the end of the body scan,
Acknowledge yourself for taking this time to be present with the body just as it is.
May you know that this is an act of love.
You
