Body Scan Guided Meditation

The body scan, as the name suggests, entails bringing awareness to each part of the body. It serves many goals, one being that it teaches us how to recognize and experience physical sensations. The recognition of physical signals such as tension or restlessness is important especially for the prevention of stress and burn-out.

The body scan is a form of meditation that aims to cultivate mindfulness.

Transcript

Hello, And welcome back to another guided meditation. In this practice, We'll be focusing in on the body. So this will be a body scan practice. This sort of practice is best performed while laying down. Though you can do the practice while sitting in a chair or on the ground as well. Whatever makes you feel comfortable. And you also want to ensure that this time is solely for you. So reading any distractions, Your phone, Just letting people, If there are people in the house, Just letting them know that you're having you time. So when you're ready, When you're in a comfortable position, If you're laying down, Your back is straight, Arms are to the side, Just breathing at a regular rate. If you're sitting, Just make sure your back is straight. Feet are touching the ground, Arms could be on your lap. Whatever feels comfortable for you. Start this session. Just taking three deep breaths. Just breathing in through your nose and just letting it go. Letting it come right out of your nose again. So just breathing in and just slowly release and imagine as you breathe out that everything that doesn't serve you is leaving with that breath. Just another nice deep breath. Just releasing now. At this point, You could close your eyes if you feel comfortable or you can leave your eyes open, Just kind of gazing out, Not really focusing in on anything. Just trying your best to be here in this moment. So gently now take a few moments to get in touch with the movements of your breath and the sensations in the body. When you're ready, Bring your awareness to the physical sensations in your body, Especially to the sensations of touch or pressure where your body makes contact with the bed or the floor or the chair. And on each out breath, Allow yourselves to let go, To sink a little deeper into the floor, Into the bed or into the chair. And remind yourself of the intention of this practice. Its aim is not to feel any different, Relaxed or calm. Though this may happen, It may not. Instead, The intention of the practice is at best as you can to bring your awareness to any sensations you detect as you focus your attention on each part of the body. Now bring your awareness to the physical sensations in the lower abdomen, Becoming aware of the changing patterns of sensations in the abdominal wall as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Take a few minutes to feel the sensations as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Being connected with the sensations in the abdomen, Bring the focus or spotlight of your awareness down to the left leg, Into the left foot and out to the toes of the left foot. Just focus on each of the toes on the left foot, Bringing a gentle curiosity to investigate the quality of the sensations you find. So maybe you're noticing the sense of contact between the toes or a sense of tingling warmth or maybe no particular sensation. When you're ready, When you breathe in, Feel or imagine the breath entering the lungs and then passing down into the abdomen, Into the leg, Into the left foot and out to the toes of the left foot. And then on the out breath, Feel or imagine the breath coming all the way back up, Out of the foot, Into the leg, Up through the abdomen, The chest and out through the nose. As best you can, Continue this for a few breaths. Just breathing down into the toes and back out from the toes. Then on the out breath, Just feel or imagine the breath coming all the way back up, Out of the foot, Into the leg, Up through the abdomen, The chest and out through your nose. As best you can, Continue this for a few breaths. Breathing down into the toes and back out from the toes. It may seem difficult to get the hang of this. Just practice this breathing as best you can. Approaching it playfully, No judgment. And now when you're ready, On an out breath, Let go of the awareness of the toes and gently bring your awareness to the sensations on the bottom of your left foot. Experiment with breathing with the sensations that you feel. Being aware of the breath in the background as you explore the sensations of the lower foot. Now allow the awareness to expand into the rest of the foot, The ankle, The top of the foot, Right into the bones and the joints. And now just taking a slightly deeper breath, Directing it down into the whole left foot. Then let go on the out breath, Let go of the left foot completely. Allowing the focus of awareness now to move into the lower left leg, The calf, Shin, Knee, And so on. Continue to bring awareness and general curiosity to the physical sensations in each part of the rest of your body. And shift your attention now to the right toes, The right foot, The right leg, The pelvic area, The back, The abdomen, The chest, The fingers, Your hands. All you're doing here is just noticing and feeling the sensations as you kindly pass through these regions of your body. Seeing the hands, The arms, The shoulders, Neck, Your head, Face. In each area as best you can, You can bring the same detailed level of awareness and gentle curiosity to the bodily sensations you feel present. And as you leave each major area, Breathe into it on the in breath and then let go of that region on the out breath. When you become aware of tension or other intense sensations in a particular part of the body, You can breathe into them as well, Using the in breath gently to bring awareness right into that sensation as best you can. And then having a sense of letting go or releasing on the out breath. Your mind will inevitably wander away from the breath in the body from time to time. Just recognize that this is normal. What the mind does. When you notice, Just acknowledge it. Noticing where the mind has gone off to and then gently return your attention to the part of the body you intended to focus on. And after you scan the whole body in this way, Spend a few minutes being aware of a sense of the body as a whole and of the breath flowing freely in and out of the body. And now if you're laying down and you find yourself falling asleep, You may find it helpful to prop your head up with a pillow or open your eyes or do the practice sitting up other than laying down. Now to finish bringing your awareness back to your body again, Feeling it as a whole. You might want to wiggle your toes and fingers, Stretch, Flex your arms and your hands. Just allowing this calmness and this centeredness to remain within you as you move on now. As you continue on the rest of your day, The rest of your life. And thank yourself for having taken the time and the energy to do this exercise. You can gently open your eyes when you're ready, Come back with your attention to where you are. Thank you. Namaste.

Reviews

Not a traditional full body scan but excellent to learn to direct the breath to the entire body, feel sensations and give direction for a successful scan. Exactly what I was looking for today.