Body scan.
In this practice we step out of automatic pilot and come home to the body.
With mindfulness we'll experience how the mind and brain have an influence on the body and vice versa.
Our intention is to befriend the body as we gather our scattered minds into the senses,
Practicing calm attention.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position,
Taking a moment to consider what would be appropriate for you today.
Perhaps feeling the ground beneath the feet,
Making contact with the floor or seat.
Choosing to close the eyes or to lower your gaze,
Making a choice to allow yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment,
Which in itself is an act of kindness.
The intention of the body scan is to practice coming back to the body,
Clearly aware of thoughts and emotions but paying particular attention to sensations in the body as we encounter them.
Without wanting anything at all,
Not even relaxation,
Letting go of any need for our experience to be anything other than it is.
As best we can,
Coming back to the body and allowing the body scan to simply unfold.
Perhaps opening the attention now to include the entire body lying or sitting here,
Noticing the movement of the breath.
It's such a constant feature of life that it's easy to ignore.
Perhaps sensing the rising and falling of the belly,
Feeling the movement of the breath,
The rhythm of the breath rolling in and the breath rolling out again,
Simply riding the waves of the breath from moment to moment.
Practicing coming to the breath as an anchor,
Starting with the feet,
Feeling both feet right now,
Feeling into the areas where the feet are touching the ground,
Maybe feeling the toes,
But perhaps not.
Maybe feeling tingling or temperature,
Warm or cold,
The touch of socks,
The spaces between the toes.
What is there to explore right now?
Now moving the attention to the ankles and lower legs.
What is here to feel,
If anything at all?
Perhaps noticing the calves against the mat or the back of the chair.
Perhaps the fabric of clothes against your skin.
And as we move through the body scan,
There's no need to make sensations happen.
And if the sensation is subtle,
That's what is there to be explored.
And if there's no sensation,
That's what's there to be noticed.
Simply investigating the experience of a very alive body.
Moving on when you're ready,
Letting go of the lower legs and shifting the attention to the knees and thighs.
What is there to feel?
As best we can,
Exploring what is here right now.
Perhaps pressure,
Temperature,
The position of the legs,
Numbness or nothing at all.
Noticing getting caught in thinking about an area or picturing it in the mind's eye.
Both are different from actually feeling it.
What does it feel like to be curious about the body?
Letting go of the thighs and moving the attention to the lower trunk,
The pelvis,
The belly,
The belly button.
Noticing any sensations in this area.
Is there sensation?
A feeling of the breath in the lower belly?
Maybe,
Maybe not.
No right or wrong.
Just investigating the experience of the body.
And when ready,
Bringing the awareness to the spine.
Noticing any sensations that are here.
Pressure,
Tightness,
Parts touching the floor or chair,
Space.
Maybe there's nothing at all and that's okay.
That's just the experience in this moment.
Moving the attention to the hands.
Noticing how well we can feel the hands without having to see them.
What's the position of the hands?
Maybe noticing the spaces between the fingers.
Feeling the hands from the inside out.
And at your own pace,
Letting go of the awareness of the hands and moving the attention to the wrists and forearms.
With curiosity,
What is here to feel today?
Touch,
Pressure,
Warmth.
Maybe something,
Maybe nothing.
Moving the attention to the elbows,
The upper arms.
Noticing the sensations here.
And if you notice that the mind has wandered off to some past event or jumped into the future with kindness,
Just bringing it back to wherever we are.
Taking a breath and starting again without judging.
If it feels right,
Perhaps congratulating yourself for noticing that you had wandered away from the body.
Gently bringing your attention to the shoulders.
What is there to feel?
Maybe tightness in the muscles or looseness.
Can you feel your shoulders touch the ground of the chair?
And then moving the attention into the neck and head.
Does the neck feel tight or relaxed?
Does the head feel light or heavy?
Feeling into the scalp,
The forehead,
The cheeks,
The eyes,
The jaw.
Where is the tongue?
What does the face feel like today?
And when you're ready,
Letting go of the awareness of the face.
Allowing the awareness to open,
To include the entire body lying or sitting here.
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Investigating the feeling of being alive.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Noticing how the breath has been a constant companion.
How it brings the whole body together.
Perhaps imagining a wave of breath flowing from the tips of the toes to the top of the head.
And all the way back down again.
Feeling a sense of being grounded.
Of being here in the present moment.
And as we draw this experience to a close,
I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on your experience of the body scan.
Without judging the experience as good or bad.
Allowing it to be what it was.
Maybe you've learned something along the way.
Areas of the body to nurture and to be kind to.
Perhaps sensations were not what you expected.
And now gently starting to bring some movement back into the body.
Whatever feels good.
Maybe wiggling your fingers and toes.
Stretching the body in any way it wants.
And when you're ready,
Turning your awareness to sounds in the room.
Gently opening the eyes and coming back into the room.
The body scan is now complete.
