Body Scan For Sleep

This guided body scan meditation is designed to help you prepare for sleep. This is intended to be experienced while lying down on the bed as you prepare for sleep. You'll be taking time to notice the sensations present in your body and find yourself landing in deep relaxation so that you can drift peacefully to sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to this body scan meditation for sleep.

I'm Jamie and I am so grateful and honored that you are here with me tonight.

This guided body scan meditation is designed to help you prepare for sleep.

As you're doing the meditation,

You may find yourself drifting off to sleep,

And that's okay.

You can allow the meditation to turn off on its own.

If you notice any thoughts or worries or concerns coming into your mind that take your attention away from this meditation,

That's okay.

It's totally normal.

If that happens,

Just see if you can bring your attention back to the body scan,

To the sound of my voice,

And gently let go of the thoughts that come through.

We're going to take some time to notice your body lying down on the bed and feeling the body's sensations that are present,

Scanning the body for any and all obvious sensations.

We're just going to notice these sensations.

We're not going to judge or try and change or make them different,

Just bringing attention to the body so that you can let go of everything else that happened today,

Let go of any concerns about what might come tomorrow,

And just be here in this moment in your body.

So I invite you to lie down in bed,

Get comfy.

You can lie down in any position that feels comfortable for you.

There's no right or wrong.

Just allow yourself to start to settle in,

And let's take a few big,

Deep breaths.

Breathing in through the nose,

And then exhaling out from the mouth.

Beautiful.

Let's do that two more times.

Big,

Deep breath in through the nose,

And out from the mouth.

Last one.

Big,

Deep breath in through the nose,

And out from the mouth.

And just allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm,

Seeing if you can notice how it's naturally just a little bit deeper.

And I'm going to invite you to turn your attention to the feeling of your body on the bed beneath you.

See if you can initially notice any sensations,

Any feelings that might be present in your body.

And we're going to start scanning bit by bit from the top of your head down to your toes,

And see what you notice.

Let's begin by bringing your attention to the top of your head,

Noticing any sensations that might be present,

Noticing what you feel.

You might notice pressure,

Noticing your skull,

The back of your head where it makes contact with the bed or the pillow.

You might feel the pressure or the weight.

You might notice other sensations.

You might notice temperature,

Maybe a breeze if you have a fan.

Just notice any sensations at the top of your head.

Feel them.

Be curious about them.

There's no judgment,

No need to analyze or fix or change.

If you encounter any tension,

See if you could just breathe into that area of tension.

See if,

As you exhale,

You can allow it to gently relax.

And if it doesn't seem possible to relax,

That's okay.

No judgment.

Just notice what you feel.

And start bringing your attention to your face area,

Your forehead,

Your eyes,

Your nose.

Notice your cheeks and your mouth.

You might notice sensations like tightness or temperature,

Maybe itching or tingling,

Whatever it is.

Just let it be.

And just be curious.

Just notice.

No need to change or fix.

Bringing your attention to your throat,

Your neck.

Becoming aware of anything that's present for you.

Moving down to the shoulder area.

And again,

Noticing if there's any tension.

See if you can release and relax that tension with each breath.

And just breathing in,

And then with the exhale,

Let it to soften.

Directing your breath into any of those tense areas.

And just soften.

And let's bring your attention now to your shoulders.

Noticing any sensations,

Pressure,

Movement.

And let your attention move down your arms.

Moving down to your elbows,

Your lower arm,

Then to your hands.

We often experience quite a few sensations in our hands or in our fingers.

Just notice what's present.

You might notice twitching.

That's often something that happens,

Especially at night as our body is starting to go offline.

So if you notice any of these sensations,

That's okay.

Again,

No need to judge.

Just notice.

Notice any temperature,

Tingling.

Letting your breath continue to deepen.

And now let your attention move back up to the top of your shoulders and down to the top of your back,

Noticing your upper back.

Letting your shoulders and upper back soften with each breath.

Allowing your attention to start to move down your back.

You can zigzag across your back.

You can move up and down in your mind's eye.

Just noticing.

For many of us,

There may be strong sensations in the back.

You may notice the pressure or the weight,

The sensation of your back touching the bed.

If you're someone who is on their feet a lot,

You may notice some tension or tightness in your lower back.

If you're someone who sits in front of a computer all day,

You may notice some tension in your upper back.

For some of us,

We may have no sensations at all.

This is all perfect.

Just be open,

Curious.

About whatever is present for you.

Noticing all the sensations,

Continuing to breathe deeply.

And again,

If the mind wanders,

As the mind does,

Just let your thoughts go.

Acknowledge,

Thank you brain for giving me that thought.

And then let it drift away.

Bringing your attention back to the body.

Back to the sound of my voice.

And bringing your attention now to the top of your chest.

And with your attention scanning down your chest,

Down to the upper ribcage,

Into the stomach area.

See if with each breath you can actually soften your stomach.

Feeling the muscles start to relax.

Feeling your internal organs softening and relaxing.

Preparing for your overnight digestion and processing.

Directing your breathing into this area.

Allowing everything to soften and relax.

Bringing your attention now down to the pelvic area.

Noticing the whole pelvic area.

Any sensations.

Bringing your attention to the hips.

Noticing any tightness or tension.

Breathing into those areas.

Allowing anything that might be tight to just soften and relax.

Moving down to the thighs.

Noticing any sensations there.

Working your way down to the knee joint.

Down to the leg,

The calves,

The shins.

Noticing whatever is present.

Any itching,

Any heaviness,

Any temperature change.

Tingling,

Twitching.

Just let it all be there,

Whatever it is.

Moving down to your ankle joints,

Then to your feet,

Your toes.

You might notice a lot of sensations in your feet.

Or maybe not,

You may feel no sensations at all.

It's all okay,

It's all perfect.

Just become aware of whatever is there for you.

Noticing any vibrations or tingling,

Any twitching.

It might even feel good to wiggle the toes a little bit.

And now taking a moment to just be present with your breath.

Working,

Moving your attention from the toes back up to the top of the head.

And from the top of the head back down to the toes.

Just taking a moment with each breath to kind of quickly bring your attention up and down.

Head to toe,

Toe to head.

Taking a final scan of any sensations present for you.

And with each breath,

With each exhale,

See if you can just continue softening,

Relaxing.

Sinking into the bed.

Noticing the feeling of your breath moving,

Traveling through your throat,

Into your belly,

Into your chest,

Your lungs.

Feeling the rise and fall of each inhale and each exhale.

Allowing yourself the space to just be present with your breath.

To find rest.

To recharge.

Thank you for joining me in this body scan meditation.

I'm wishing you sweet dreams and a beautiful day tomorrow.

May you wake up refreshed and ready to tackle your day.

Live radically.