The Body Scan Meditation.
This meditation is typically practiced lying down,
But you can also sit or stand if that feels more comfortable for you.
I will guide this meditation as if you're lying down,
So if you've chosen a different posture,
Simply adapt my guidance to suit the posture that you've chosen.
So settling your body now.
Noticing the contact of the length of your body with the surface beneath you.
Perhaps you're lying on a bed or maybe a mat on the floor.
Just noticing the contact of your body with the surface beneath you.
Weight of your body sinking gently into this surface.
And I invite you to notice the movement of your body as you're breathing.
The sensations of the in-breath and the out-breath.
Noticing the movements.
Perhaps you can feel your back.
Gently pressing into the bed beneath you.
With each in-breath.
As your ribcage expands and contracts.
Pressing into the bed.
Just noticing the sensations.
Of your belly as it rises and falls with each in-breath and out-breath.
Noticing the movement in the front and the sides and the back of the body.
Perhaps noticing the rise and fall of your chest.
And the rise and fall of your shoulders.
Maybe noticing the sensations of the breath as the air enters through your nostrils or your mouth and as it exits with the exhale.
Perhaps feeling the temperature of the air as it passes through.
And I invite you to take your attention to your whole body.
Noticing any sensations.
Is there any tension,
Any clenching?
Perhaps you can allow this to gently release.
To soften as you allow your weight to sink into gravity,
Sinking into the surface beneath you that's holding you.
And then I invite you to take your attention to your feet.
Noticing any sensations in your feet.
The soles of the feet.
The tops of the feet.
And the toes.
What do you feel here?
Perhaps there's warmth or coolness.
Or you might notice some tingling.
Or the contact of the toes with each other.
Just noticing any sensations without judgement.
And if you don't feel anything,
That's also fine.
Simply noticing this.
And then taking your attention to your heels.
Perhaps pressing into the bed or the mat beneath you.
And your ankles.
What do you notice here?
And moving gently to your calves.
Feeling the weight of your calves sinking into the surface beneath you.
What sensations do you notice here?
And moving to your shins,
The front of your legs.
And up to your knees.
What do you notice in your knees and your lower legs?
What sensations are there?
If you feel any tension.
Perhaps directing a kindly breath.
Towards the area of discomfort,
Allowing it to gently release.
And then taking your attention to your thighs.
These large muscles in your body.
That carries so much of our weight.
What do you notice here?
If you're carrying any tension.
Can you allow it to simply soften?
Taking your attention to your buttocks.
Perhaps here you notice some clenching or some tension from sitting.
Maybe noticing this,
You're able to gently release it.
And allow the buttocks to soften,
To relax into the surface beneath you and taking your attention to your groin,
Your hips and your pelvis.
What do you notice here?
What do you feel in this parts of your body?
If you don't notice anything,
That's also fine.
And if your mind starts to wander,
That's perfectly normal.
That's what minds are made for.
You can simply notice that your mind has wandered,
Acknowledge the thought,
And gently guide your attention back to the body.
Back to the sensations,
The physical experience and the part of the body that we're focusing on.
And remember that simply noticing that you've wandered off is a moment of awareness and that's the practice of mindfulness.
So now I invite you to bring your attention to your torso.
Noticing any sensations in your stomach.
In your abdomen.
Your lower back.
And middle back.
All the way up to your chest.
What do you feel here in this moment?
What sensations do you notice?
Perhaps you notice the breathing.
And the movement of your body with the breath.
Or maybe you can feel the weight of your body pressing into the surface beneath you the whole length of the back of your body.
In your torso.
Just gently resting.
And then taking your attention to your shoulders.
What do you notice here?
Is there any tension?
If there is,
Perhaps allowing it to gently soften into the surface beneath you.
Allowing your shoulders to drop a little.
And to soften And then taking your attention to your upper arms.
To your biceps and your triceps.
Resting against your body and the surface beneath you.
What do you feel here?
And noticing your elbows.
The back of your elbows and the inside of your elbows.
Before moving to your lower arms.
What do you notice here?
Noticing your whole arms,
The upper arms and the lower arms.
Gently resting.
And then moving your attention to your wrists.
And your hands.
To the backs of your hands,
The palm of your hands,
Your thumbs and your fingers.
What do you feel here?
Is there any tingling?
Perhaps warmth or coolness.
Maybe you can notice your fingers and thumbs pressing against each other.
Or perhaps you have your hands lying in your lap.
And you can notice this sensation of their weight Just taking a moment.
To focus your attention on your hands.
And then expanding your attention,
Moving from your hands to your lower arms and your upper arms and back up to your shoulders and your upper back.
What you feel here.
And taking your attention to your neck.
That carries your head all day long.
What do you notice here?
If there's any tension,
Perhaps gently relaxing.
And allowing the neck to soften.
And taking your attention to the back of the head,
Resting perhaps on a pillow beneath you.
And to the top of the head and the crown of the head.
What do you notice here?
What do you feel in this moment?
And moving to your forehead.
To your eyebrows.
And your eyelids and your eyes behind your eyelids.
What do you notice here?
If your mind wanders,
Just acknowledging the thought and gently bringing your attention back to the eyes and the eyelids and the eyebrows.
Just noticing any sensations here.
And taking your attention to the nose.
Or perhaps you can notice the breathing.
Onto your cheeks.
What do you feel here?
And your ears.
What sensations do you notice in the ears?
Is there any tickling or tingling?
Perhaps you can feel the coolness or the warmth of the air against your ears.
And taking attention to your lips.
Are they open or closed?
Perhaps you can notice if they're dry.
What sensations do you feel here?
And noticing any sensations in your mouth.
Perhaps you notice your tongue is on the roof of your mouth and you can gently release it.
And taking attention to your jaw.
Maybe you notice some tension here.
It's quite common to hold tension in our jaws.
If you do,
You might want to give it a little wiggle from side to side to just gently release it.
Just noticing any sensations in your jaw and your chin.
And then broadening your attention to the whole of your face and your head and your neck and your shoulders.
Just noticing any sensations here.
And letting any tension just gently release.
And then expanding your attention to the whole of your body.
Noticing the weight of your body.
And the contact between your body and the surface beneath you.
Perhaps noticing the contact of your skin with the fabric of the clothes that you're wearing.
Or any blankets that you might have on top of you.
Noticing the temperature of the air around you.
And gently expanding your attention to the space around you.
Noticing any signs,
Any smells.
Perhaps the light on your eyelids if they're closed.
And when you feel ready,
You can gently blink your eyelids open.
And return to the space around you.
And if you've been lying down or seated.
You might like to give yourself a bit of a stretch,
Just gently,
Not stretching too hard.
Maybe a bit of a jiggle.
Just to bring yourself back to the space around you and to the rest of your day.
Bringing with it an attitude of kindly,
Gentle awareness as we bring this practice to a close.
