Body Scan - 45 Minutes

This 45-minute version of the Body Scan helps us become mindful of our body sensations and to become aware of our physical experience in the present moment. 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 be comfortable and warm.

Perhaps laying down.

You may like to have your legs out long with your feet falling away from each other.

With your arms long beside your body and your palms turned up towards the ceiling.

Or you may prefer to bend your legs with your feet flat on the floor and your knees pointing to the ceiling.

You may prefer to sit or even to stand for this body scan today.

Finding a position where you can be comfortable and alert.

Where you can invite a sense of wakefulness.

Taking a few moments to make any last minute adjustments to your position.

And then becoming aware of the physical sense of your body in this position.

It may be that you can feel your heels on the ground or the soles of your feet.

Perhaps your legs.

Or the underside of your thighs.

Your bottom.

Parts of your back.

Your head.

Sensing these places against the floor or the support.

Noticing any movement within your body.

Or noticing any stillness as you settle into this position.

You may notice the touch of clothing or perhaps a blanket or even air against your skin.

And when you're ready,

Becoming aware of your body breathing itself.

Just the motion and the process of breathing.

No help is required from you.

No intervention in order to breathe.

You may notice the breath at your nostrils.

The tingling perhaps or not at the entrance to the nose as you breathe in.

You may notice a subtle difference in temperature between the in-breath and the out-breath.

You may notice the breath most prominently at your chest.

With the expansion of the ribcage with each in-breath.

And in the falling down of the ribcage,

The relaxation of the ribcage as you breathe out.

You may notice breathing most prominently in the abdomen region.

With the rise and the fall of your stomach with each in and out-breath.

Tuning into the sense of the breath.

The feeling of the breath as it enters and leaves the body.

As we do this body scan,

You can always return to the breath at any stage.

We will soon be directing our attention through the body,

Focusing in a systematic way on various parts of the body.

At times our attention will be like a laser beam.

Very precise as it focuses on one specific part of the body.

At other times our attention may be more like a flood light.

It's shining on a whole region of the body at one time.

And as we do this,

We are not trying to achieve a certain state.

We are not even trying to achieve a state of relaxation.

The intention of this body scan is simply to pay attention to the sensations that are occurring in the body in the present moment.

In some ways you could say we are like a cartographer who is mapping the terrain of the body's sensations.

Just noting,

Not judging.

The subtle sensations,

The clear sensations,

The nebulous sensations,

Those that are pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.

Just observing.

And so when you are ready,

Moving your attention down through your left leg and allowing it to land in your left heel.

And noticing what you can sense in your left heel.

Perhaps pressure as it pushes against the floor,

Or softness.

Moving your attention to the sole of the left foot,

The arch of the foot,

Any tingling or smoothness.

The ball of the left foot,

The big toe of the left foot,

The pad of the big toe,

And all of the other toes on the left foot.

The pads of those toes,

The gaps between the toes,

Sensing into the very tips of the toes,

The tops of the toes,

The top of the left foot.

Noticing what you can feel,

If anything,

On the sides of the left foot.

And it's also fine if you can't feel anything.

Not trying to create sensations.

Just noticing what is there for you in this moment.

Expanding your attention so that you are now focusing on all of the left foot.

Noticing what you can feel in this moment.

Moving up to your left ankle,

Circling your ankle with awareness.

And to your left lower leg,

The calf,

The shin,

The skin surrounding the lower leg.

Noticing any tension or looseness.

And if your mind wanders off to something else,

Which it will do,

Perhaps thousands of times as we do this body scan,

That's perfectly fine.

No need to judge it.

That's what minds do.

It's useful to note where the mind has gone to,

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

And now we're up to focusing on the left knee,

The kneecap,

The inner side of the left knee,

The underside of the left knee,

And the outer side.

And deep inside the knee,

Noticing what you can sense.

Moving your attention to the left thigh,

The underside of the thigh,

The top of the thigh,

Muscles,

Bone,

Skin.

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

The left ankle and the foot into your awareness.

Noticing what you can feel in this whole region of the body.

You may like to imagine breathing into the leg as if the breath is filling up every cell in the left leg,

And then breathing out from that region.

Moving your attention now to your right leg,

And letting your attention travel down through the leg,

Down to the right heel.

Noticing what you can sense in this heel,

And in the sole of the right foot.

The arch of the foot,

The ball of the right foot,

The right big toe,

The little toe,

And the toes in between,

The gaps between the toes.

Noticing the very tips of the toes on the right foot,

The toenails,

The tops of the toes,

The top of the right foot.

Can you sense the air or clothing against the foot,

The sides of the right foot,

And now all of the right foot.

Your attention is like a floodlight shining on all of the right foot.

Moving up to your right ankle,

Circling the ankle with awareness.

And now to the right lower leg,

The calf,

The shin,

The skin,

Sensing deep within that part of the leg.

Moving to your right knee,

The kneecap,

The inner side of the right knee,

The underside of the right knee,

And the outer side.

Is there movement,

Twitching,

Stillness,

Calmness,

Deep inside the knee.

Moving to the right upper leg,

The thigh,

Feeling the underside of the thigh,

The upper side of the thigh,

The skin encasing the thigh.

And broadening your attention so that you are now taking in all of the right leg and the ankle and the foot from the hip bone,

From the top of the leg,

Right down to the sole of your right foot.

Again,

It can help to imagine that you are breathing all the way down into your right leg.

And then allowing the breath to sweep out of that leg as well.

Imagining that that's possible.

And now moving your attention to your tailbone,

Perhaps sensing pressure there as it rests against the floor,

Or against the seat.

And the lower back.

Moving your attention up your back,

To the arch of your back,

The middle part of your back.

And further up your back.

Perhaps you can feel your shoulder blades resting against the floor.

You may notice the back of the ribs moving as you breathe in and breathe out.

Sensing into the muscles in your back.

What can you feel in your muscles at the moment?

Tightness,

Tension,

Looseness,

Or nothing at all.

And when your mind wanders off,

Just noting where it's gone to,

And then allowing it to wander back.

Now broadening your attention so that you are taking in the entire width and breadth of the back.

Moving your attention to the sides of your torso,

Down at the hip bones.

Moving up to the sides of your waist.

And then up to your ribs,

The sides of your ribs.

And into the armpits.

And moving your attention to the front of your torso,

Down to the very lower region,

Down into the pelvis area.

Noticing what you can sense in this part of the body,

The anal region,

The genital region.

You may notice the breathing there,

The movement,

The very lower part of your abdomen.

Sensing inside your body to the organs of reproduction and illumination.

Moving your attention up to your stomach and your liver area.

Noticing the stronger impact of the breath on this part of the body.

The rise and fall of the abdomen.

The movement of the diaphragm.

Sensing into your digestive system.

Noticing what you can feel there.

Any tension or release,

Gurgling,

Stillness.

Movement,

Calmness.

Moving your attention up to your chest.

Again,

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

The breasts.

The skin covering this area.

You may feel even the beating of the heart inside your chest.

Muscles expanding and contracting in this area.

And sensing up to your collarbone.

Noticing what you can feel in this area.

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

And then even further so that you are taking in all of the torso,

The front,

The sides,

The back.

Imagining as you have done with other parts of the body that you can breathe and fill up every part of your torso.

And then breathe out from every part of your torso.

Feeling the support of the floor beneath you and the entire planet.

Just breathing.

Noticing.

Sensing.

Moving your attention to your left shoulder.

Noticing what you can feel in your shoulder.

Your left upper arm.

Circling your arm with awareness.

Moving attention to your left elbow.

The bone.

The bend of the elbow.

Tendons.

Moving your attention to your left forearm.

The top of the forearm.

Sides.

Undeside.

The left wrist.

Circling your wrist with awareness.

And moving your attention to your left hand.

The palm of the hand.

The back of the hand.

The thumb.

Fingers.

Gaps between the fingers.

Fingernails.

And noticing what you can feel in the tips of your fingers.

Expanding your attention so that you are now like a floodlight,

Focusing on all of your left arm.

Including the wrist and the hand and the fingers.

Noticing what you can sense.

What can you feel in this moment?

Temperature,

Warmth,

Coolness.

Tension in the muscles.

Relaxed muscles.

Breathing deeply into this arm and hand.

Breathing out from that area.

Moving your attention now across to your right shoulder.

Feeling the front,

The back,

The top,

The side of the shoulder.

The right upper arm.

Circling that part of the arm with awareness.

Curious as to what you're feeling in this part of your body.

Moving to the right elbow.

The bone.

The bend of the elbow.

The inner part of the elbow.

Now your right forearm.

The top of the forearm.

The underside of the right forearm.

The sides.

Moving your attention to your right wrist.

Scanning around the wrist.

And inside the wrist.

To notice what you can feel.

Moving to the right hand.

The palm of the hand.

The tingling or numbness.

The back of the hand.

The thumb.

The little finger.

And the fingers in between.

The gaps between the fingers.

Backs of the fingers.

Fingernails.

And what do you sense in the very tips of the fingers?

Tingling.

Numbness.

And when your mind wanders off.

Noticing where it has gone to.

And then gently and kindly allowing your mind to come back to the body scan.

Broadening your attention now so that you are taking in all of the right arm and the wrist and the hand.

Noticing how it's possible to focus on a whole region of the body at one time.

Taking a deep breath as though you were filling up every cell in your right arm and hand.

Filling the blood stream with oxygen.

And then breathing out from that part of the body.

Now moving your attention to your throat.

The skin on the throat.

The inside of the throat.

You may notice swallowing activity occurring.

And then to the back of the neck,

The upper part of the spine.

Noticing if there is any tension there.

Or not.

Moving your attention up to the back of the skull.

The back of your head.

Perhaps resting on the floor.

The hair follicles.

The sides of the head.

The temples.

The ears.

Pausing for a moment to open to the sounds you may be hearing right now.

And noticing the sensations inside the ears.

Moving your attention to the very top of your head,

The crown of your head.

And to the forehead.

Noticing how you are holding your forehead right now.

Moving to your eyebrows.

The gap between the eyebrows.

The eye sockets.

Your eyelids.

Noticing any work involved with keeping your eyelids shut if they are.

The eyeballs.

Noticing any movement.

Or stillness.

Moving your attention to your cheeks.

Noticing what you can feel in your cheeks.

Is there tightness there?

Or is it relaxed?

Bringing attention to your nose.

The skin over the nose.

The bone of the nose.

The nostrils.

Noticing the movement of air in and out.

Maybe a tingling on the upper lip as the air moves into the nostrils and comes out again.

Noticing what else you can sense in the upper lip.

The lower lip.

The cornice of the mouth.

And into the mouth.

What can you sense with your teeth?

Gums.

Tongue.

Palates.

Moving your attention to your jaw.

Noticing how you're holding your jaw.

Is there tension?

Tightness?

Is your jaw clenched?

Or is it slightly open?

No tension.

No sensation.

Noticing the chin.

Broadening your attention so that you are now focusing on the whole head region and the neck.

Noticing the spine.

The skull,

Scalp,

Face,

Neck.

Inside.

Sensing into the brain.

Observing that whole region of your body.

Again,

You may like to take a deeper breath.

Imagining you can fill up your whole head and neck with air.

All of the cells getting filled up with that oxygen.

And imagining you can breathe out from that region.

And now expanding your attention so that like a very large floodlight it's shining on your entire body now.

From the very top of your head.

All the way down to the soles of your feet.

Through your head and neck.

Your torso,

The front,

The sides,

The back.

Your right arm,

Hand and fingers.

Your left arm,

Hand and fingers.

Moving through your legs,

Your right leg.

Your knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle.

Your right foot and toes.

And your left leg.

Left knee,

Left lower leg,

Left ankle,

Foot and toes.

Allowing your whole body to be cradled in awareness.

Noticing the myriad of sensations that bubble up and pass away.

The impermanence of the sensations.

Noticing how some sensations may feel quite pleasant.

And there may be a tendency to want to hold on to those sensations.

Noticing how other sensations are quite unpleasant.

And there may be a tendency to want to push those ones away.

And other sensations may be neutral.

We're indifferent to them.

Perhaps also noticing the tendency that we all have from time to time to want our experience to be different to what it actually is.

And allowing our experience to be as it is.

Just letting be in this moment.

Not trying to change anything.

Just allowing it to be as it is right now.

Observing the sensations throughout the whole body.

Thoughts will come and go.

We can notice that.

And allow our attention to return to the body.

And for the remaining moments of this body scan,

Now let's let the sensation of breathing once again take centre stage.

Releasing the body from your attention.

And just focusing on the breath.

Wherever you feel that most strongly.

Noticing the in breath.

Noticing the out breath.

Noticing the small pause between the in breath and the out breath.

And the out breath and the in breath.

And as we finish,

You may like to thank yourself.

Congratulate yourself.

For taking this time for self care.

Thank you.

Reviews

Jenny, with all my thanks for an incredible scan. Your voice is so melodic, calming and peaceful and the thoroughness of this scan is amazing. So much appreciation.