Body Scan - 30 Minutes

The Body Scan helps us become mindful of our body sensations and to become aware of our physical experience in the present moment. It can be done laying on the floor for extra sensory input (as I suggest in the recording), laying on another surface such as a bed, sitting, or even standing. The Body Scan is guided here as taught in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program.

Transcript

Welcome to the body scan.

Finding a position where you can lay down on the floor that is comfortable and warm.

You may like to let your legs lay out long with your feet falling away from each other and your arms laying long beside your body with your palms turned slightly towards the ceiling.

Or you may prefer to bend your legs so that your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are pointing towards the ceiling.

And becoming aware of the sensations of your body with the pressure against the floor.

Noticing where your body makes contact with the floor.

Your heels,

Your legs,

Your bottom,

Parts of your back,

Your head,

Arms.

Noticing general body sensations.

Whether that's the contact of clothing or a blanket or even the air against your skin.

And focusing in now on the sensations of breathing.

Noticing how your body knows exactly what to do to breathe.

No intervention or help is needed from you.

Your body can just breathe itself.

Noticing the rise and fall of the abdomen.

There's no need to control the breath or to change it in any way.

Just allowing your awareness to rest on the experience of breathing.

In a moment we'll start to direct our attention in a systematic way through various parts of the body.

And at times our attention will be very focused on a specific area.

It'll be focused like a laser beam.

And at other times our attention will be quite broad like a floodlight taking in the whole region of the body at one time.

And we're not aiming to create a certain state or even to achieve relaxation.

The intention of this practice is simply to pay attention to the sensations that we're feeling in our body.

Allowing your experience to be exactly as it is.

And so now let's direct our attention down through the left leg all the way down into the left heel.

Noticing any sensations that you can feel in the heel.

There may be pressure as it rests against the floor.

Or you may have a soft feeling there.

Or there may be no sensation at all.

And that's absolutely fine as well.

Moving your attention to the arch of the left foot.

The ball of the left foot.

And then to the big toe of the left foot.

Sensing what you can feel in that big toe.

The pad of the big toe.

And then focusing on all of the other toes of the left foot.

Any twitching or stillness.

The gaps between the toes.

The very tips of the toes.

Focusing in on the tops of the toes.

You may notice the feeling of a sock perhaps against the toes.

Moving your attention to the top of the left foot.

The sides of the left foot.

And then broadening your attention so that you're taking in all of the left foot at once.

Just noticing what you can sense in this foot.

Moving your attention up now to the left ankle.

Circling the ankle with awareness.

Noticing what you can sense in that part of the body at the moment.

Moving up to the left lower leg.

To the calf of the left leg.

Is there any tightness there?

Or does it feel loose?

The front of the left leg,

The shin.

The skin surrounding all of the left lower leg.

Moving your attention up to the left knee,

The kneecap.

The inner and outer sides of the left knee.

The underside of the left knee.

And if your mind wanders off while you do this body scan,

That's absolutely fine.

That's what minds do.

Just notice where your mind has taken you to.

And then allow it to wander back to the body scan.

And now bringing your attention to your left thigh.

The underside of the thigh.

The sides of the left thigh.

Tuning into what you can feel there.

And the top of the thigh.

Perhaps noticing temperature.

Is your thigh warm?

Cool?

Or is it not noticeable at all?

And now like a floodlight,

Expanding your attention so that you are taking in all of the left leg.

From the very top of the thigh down to the tips of the toes.

Just noticing what you can sense throughout this whole region at one time.

Any movement,

Any stillness.

Twitching,

Calmness,

Warmth,

Coolness.

Or nothing at all.

You may like to take in a deep breath.

As though you are breathing all the way down into that leg.

Filling up the cells with oxygen.

And then imagining you can breathe out from that leg.

And then when you are ready,

Moving your attention across to your right leg.

All the way down through the leg and into the right heel.

Noticing the pressure of the heel against the floor.

In the arch of the right foot.

Any sensations in the ball of the right foot.

The right big toe,

The little toe and all the toes in between.

The pads of the toes,

The tips of the toes,

The top of the toes.

Any tingling you can sense there.

Or not.

Moving your attention to the top of the right foot.

The sides of the right foot.

And broadening your attention to taking all of the right foot now.

Tuning into what you can sense in this part of your body.

Moving up to the right ankle.

And the right lower leg.

The calf,

The shin,

The sides of the right lower leg.

The skin around that part of the body.

Now focusing on your right knee,

The kneecap.

The sides of the knee.

The underside of the knee.

Tuning into the inner part of the knee.

And moving your attention up to the right thigh,

The underside of the thigh.

Noticing is there any tension there,

Any clenching or tightness.

Or does it feel open and relaxed?

Just noticing whatever sensations you can feel in that part of your body.

Now focusing on the top of the right thigh.

The sides of the right thigh.

And broadening your attention so that you are now taking in all of the right leg into your awareness.

What can you sense in this whole region of the body?

Noticing from the very top of the thigh to the tips of the toes.

The sensations that you can feel in your leg.

Again you may like to breathe deep as though you are breathing into that leg.

Carrying the oxygen right down into all of the cells of the right leg.

And imagining breathing out from the right leg.

Now bringing your attention to your tailbone.

You may notice pressure as it rests against the floor.

Sensing into your lower back.

Through your hips.

The arch of your lower back.

Moving further up the spine.

Where you may feel your shoulder blades resting against the floor.

And in this position you may notice the sensations of breathing.

The movement of the ribs as you breathe in and breathe out.

Moving to the upper part of the back.

Just noticing if there is any tightness in your back.

What are your muscles doing in your back at the moment?

Broadening your attention so that you are now focusing on the entire length and breadth of your back.

Perhaps sensing if any of the sensations are pleasant.

Or if any of the sensations are unpleasant.

Or if they are just neutral to you.

Feeling the support of the floor,

The ground,

The entire planet beneath your back.

Now moving your attention to the sides of your torso.

The hips.

Moving up to the waist area.

The sides of your chest.

The rib cage.

Right up to the armpits.

And if your mind wanders off,

Just noticing where it has gone to.

And when you are ready,

Allow your mind to wander back to the body scan.

And now we will bring our attention to the front of the torso,

To the very lower part of the torso.

To the pelvic region.

The anal region.

The region of the genitals.

Noticing at the very lower part of the abdomen the impact of breathing.

Perhaps a slight movement there with each breath.

Sensing inside the pelvic bowl to the organs of reproduction,

Illumination.

Moving your attention further up the front of the torso.

To the stomach region,

The liver.

Noticing the stronger sensations of breathing.

The expansion and release of the abdomen as you breathe in and breathe out.

Sensing the breath flowing in,

Flowing out.

Bringing your attention to your rib cage.

Again noticing the impact of breathing in this area.

The chest region.

The breasts.

The muscles working in this area.

The skin on the front of the torso.

And moving your attention up to your collarbone.

Noticing what you can sense there.

Broadening your attention now so that you are taking in all of the front of your torso.

Noticing a tendency you may have,

That we all have from time to time,

Of wanting our experience to be different from what it is at the moment.

And allowing your experience to be exactly as it is.

No matter whether it's pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.

And when you're already broadening your attention so that you are taking in all of the torso,

The front,

The sides,

The back.

Breathing deeply to fill this region entirely with your breath.

And breathing out from that region.

Moving your attention to your left shoulder.

Sensing into whether there's any tightness there or whether it's relaxed.

Focusing on your left upper arm.

Circling the front,

Back and sides of your left upper arm.

Noticing whatever you can sense in this region.

Sensing into the left elbow.

The bone.

The inner part of the elbow.

And then the left forearm.

Circling the forearm with your attention.

Noticing what you can sense there in this moment.

And now to the left wrist.

Into your left hand.

The palm of the hand.

The back of the hand.

The thumb.

Fingers.

Gaps between the fingers.

Fingernails.

The sensations in the tips of your fingers.

Broadening your attention so that you are focusing on all of the left arm.

From the shoulder right down to the tips of the fingers.

Noticing movement,

Stillness,

Tightness,

Relaxed.

Breathing in deeply to fill up all of the left arm.

And breathing out from that arm.

Moving your attention to your right shoulder.

The right upper arm.

Circling the right upper arm with your attention.

Noticing what you can sense in this moment.

Warmth,

Coolness,

Clothing.

The right elbow.

The right forearm.

Sensing into the outside and the inside of the right forearm.

The right wrist.

And into the right hand.

The palm of the hand.

The back of the hand.

The thumb.

Fingers.

Gaps between the fingers.

The tips of the fingers.

Fingernails.

Broadening your attention to take in all of the right arm.

From the shoulder right through to the tips of the fingers.

Noticing what you can sense in this entire region.

And breathing into that right arm.

And out from the right arm.

Moving your attention to your throat.

The back of your neck.

And up to the back of your head,

The back of your skull as it rests against the floor.

The crown of your head.

Sensing into your forehead.

Noticing any tightness or knot.

Your eyebrows.

Eye sockets.

Eyeballs.

The sides of your head,

The temples.

Ears.

Your cheeks.

Any tension there or not.

Sensing into your nose.

The nostrils.

Your upper lip,

Lower lip.

And inside your mouth.

The teeth,

The tongue,

The palates.

Noticing the sensations in your jaw.

And your chin.

Broadening your attention so that you are now focusing on all of the head and the neck area.

And then when you're ready,

Broadening your attention even further.

So that you are now resting your entire body in your awareness.

Noticing whatever you can sense from the very top of your head to the very bottom of your feet.

Noticing any movement,

Stillness,

Temperature,

Tightness,

Relaxation.

Tingling,

No sensation.

And now allowing the sensation of breathing to once again take centre stage.

Noticing the in breath,

The out breath.

And taking a moment to thank yourself for giving yourself this time for self-care.

Tingling.

Reviews

With much thanks for another of your amazing scans, Jenny.