Welcome to the body scan.
The body scan is one of the foundational practices of the mindfulness based stress production course.
Helping us to tune into our bodies and becoming more aware of the feelings and emotions in the body and helping us to step away from the conveyor belt of our thinking.
Lie down making yourself comfortable on a mat or a rug,
On the floor or on your bed in a place where you will be warm and undisturbed for the next 35 minutes or so.
Allow yourself to close your eyes gently.
It will take a few moments to get in touch with the movement of your breath and the sensations in your body.
When you are 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 surface you are lying on.
On each out breath allow yourself to let go and to sink a little deeper into the bed or the mat.
Remind yourself of the intention of this practice.
It's not the aim to feel relaxed or calm,
This may or may not happen.
Instead the intention of the practice is as best you can to bring awareness to any sensations you detect as you move the focus of your attention to each part of the body in turn.
We are cultivating an opportunity to listen to the body,
To listen and notice to the sensations in the body.
We may also notice the busyness of our mind at this moment.
It's jumping from one thought to another and that's okay.
We may notice the internal weather of the mind,
Perhaps our judgemental thoughts or impatience.
Whatever we notice just becoming aware and not judging.
We will over time cultivate kindness and compassion to how we are.
There is no right way to feel and no right way to feel in the body scan.
The mind will wander as minds do and we'll just notice where it goes to and then gently keep it firmly,
Bringing it back to wherever our attention and focus is in the body scan.
We will notice the wish for things to be different and as best we can we let go of striving and just bring ourselves back to the body scan and the focus of attention.
Now bringing our attention to the breath and noticing on the in breath where in the body we most feel this.
Perhaps at the nostrils or the chest or the abdomen.
Perhaps a slightly cold air coming in.
A warm air on the exhale.
Breathing of the chest and falling on the exhale.
A slight expanding of the abdomen and then the contracting on the exhale.
Just noticing this full cycle of breath.
Inhale and the exhale.
Now moving our attention down from the chest,
Down the left hand side of the body,
Out along the left thigh and knee and calf and out to the left foot and the big toe of the left foot.
Just bringing our attention to the big toe and noticing what we can feel there.
Are there any sensations in this big toe?
Can we feel the sock or cover against it?
Is it warm or cold?
Is it dry or moist?
Perhaps touching the other toe beside it.
Then moving our attention to the other toes of our left foot.
Just moving the attention down through each toe.
And as best we can sensing into each toe.
Perhaps there's a tingling,
Perhaps a warmth,
Perhaps nothing at all.
Then moving our attention to the base of the foot.
Feeling the instep,
The sole.
Sensing into the pressure of the heel against the bed.
Bring your attention to the top of the foot.
Now sensing into all the bones and the inner workings of the foot.
Now sensing into the left foot as a whole foot,
All parts of it together.
Moving our attention from the left foot to the left ankle.
Perhaps the boniness of the ankles on the two bones at the outside.
Indeed the complexity of the whole ankle.
Then moving our attention to the calf and the lower foot.
L calf lying against the bed or the mat.
Small pressure on it.
The soft muscle.
Then moving the attention around to the front of the lower leg,
The shin.
Lower bone moving from the ankle to the knee.
Perhaps the tight skin ahead of it.
Sensing into the whole of the left lower leg.
Moving our attention from the left lower leg to the knee.
Soft back of the knee.
The bony kneecap.
The sides of the knee.
Moving our attention from the knee to the thigh.
This large upper part of the leg from the knee the whole way up to the hip.
With large thigh muscles at the front,
The hamstrings at the back.
Sensing into the inner thigh and the outer thigh.
Moving the bone the whole way from the knee all the way up through the thigh and into the hip socket.
Now bring your attention back to the whole of the left leg.
From this large thigh down through the knee,
The lower leg and the left foot.
Sensing into the whole foot,
The whole leg.
Now moving your attention from the left leg across the pelvic area down the right leg the whole way out to the right foot and to the toes at the top of the right foot.
Noticing the right big toe.
And then in turn the other toes on the left foot,
On the right foot.
Moving our attention to the sole of the right foot,
The instep.
Moving the right heel on the pressing into the bed or the mat.
Sensation of the weight of the foot.
Sensing into the inner workings of that right foot.
The top skin on the top of the foot.
Sensing into the whole of the right foot.
Now letting go of the right foot and moving our attention to the right ankle.
What can we feel at the ankle?
Perhaps not too much,
Perhaps a little pulsing.
Letting go of the bony right ankle and moving our attention to the right calf and lower leg.
Once again the soft muscle of the calf.
Being pushed down by the shin bone.
From the tight outer skin,
The shin.
Moving our attention to the right knee.
From the right knee into the right thigh.
Once again this large muscle and bone on the right side of the body.
You might have noticed that our mind has wandered many times already in this body scan.
And that's okay,
That's what the mind will do.
The mind constantly looks for new sensations and thoughts to pull it away from wherever it's currently focusing.
When we notice that the mind has wandered,
We simply become aware of this moment of awakeness.
The essential part of the body scan.
Coming back to awareness,
This noticing that the mind has drifted off.
And in this moment of noticing,
We almost celebrate it because we're coming back to awareness.
Perhaps noting where it had gone to.
Then gently bringing the mind back to the focus of attention.
Which at this moment is the right thigh.
And focusing on the thigh for a moment.
Now letting go of the thigh and bringing our attention to the whole of the right leg.
From the thigh to the knee to the calf to the foot.
Awareness of the full leg.
Now letting go of the right leg.
We bring our attention to the pelvic area.
Pelvic bow.
Holding many of our organs.
Playing a big role in keeping us upright when we're standing.
All the tender muscles,
The core keeping us steady.
As we lie here,
Just becoming aware of the sensations in this pelvic area.
Seeing any physical sensations.
Touch against clothing.
Perhaps some sensations deep in the body.
These hip joints.
Sit bones.
Then moving our attention from the pelvic area to our lower back.
Just where the spine starts to arise and go up the lower back.
Very often this can be an area where there's sensitivity or pain.
Just noticing what it's like to bring attention to this lower back.
Feeling the lower back pressing against the floor or the mat.
Feeling the body weighing down on it.
Moving our attention up along the spine to the mid-back.
Breathing into the discs and the joints and the ribs joining the spine.
Once again if the mind has wandered,
Reminding ourselves that that's okay.
Then the moment of awareness and awakeness comes when we've noticed that the mind has wandered.
Just smiling and bringing ourselves to bring the attention back to wherever we are in the body scan.
Which is the middle of the back.
Perhaps if thoughts become too strong and we're drawn away we can always bring our attention back to the breath.
Or we can open our eyes and just rest a moment.
Then when we're ready bringing our attention back to the body scan.
Now moving our attention to the shoulders.
Again noticing if there's any tension in the shoulders.
Perhaps breathing into those shoulders.
Really seeing what it's like to bring our attention deep into the shoulders.
Now moving your attention around to the front of the torso.
Perhaps the movement of the body as the lungs fill.
The expansion and the contraction.
Again moving the attention down into the abdomen.
Very soft area of the front of the body.
Noticing the abdomen's movements.
Now bringing our attention up the torso and out by the shoulders and down the arms.
Right out to our fingertips.
These hands of ours that have so many sensors in them.
Bringing the way right out to the fingertips.
What can we feel out at our fingertips?
Perhaps feeling each fingertip in turn from the little fingers,
The second finger,
Middle fingers,
Forefingers,
Thumbs.
Is there any tingling in the hands?
Warmth or coldness?
What can we feel right now at our hands?
Feeling the palm and the back of the hands.
Feeling all of the hands,
The whole hands.
Now moving our attention to the wrists,
The forearms.
And your bony elbows and the soft inside of the elbows.
Now up our forearms,
Up our upper arms.
Bringing your attention to the whole of the arms together.
Leaving the arms and the shoulders and bringing our attention to the neck.
The soft vulnerable front of the neck.
The back and the spine going up to the head.
Leaving our attention up the back of the spine to the crown of the head.
Feeling the skull and the hair and all the top of our head.
Feeling the forehead.
Feeling how does the forehead feel?
Is there a tension or a relaxation?
Is there a tightness or any ease?
From the forehead to the eyes,
The eye sockets.
Feeling the eyelids and the eyes.
Moving down the nose.
Feeling the in breath and the exhale.
And feeling into the mouth.
Perhaps the moistness of the mouth.
The hardness of the teeth.
The softness of the tongue resting in the mouth.
Perhaps swallowing.
And feeling the jaw and the jawbone.
Attention up to the ears.
Now feeling the whole of the head.
Back of the head,
The scalp,
The skull.
All the body parts of the head we've mentioned.
Now letting go of the head and bringing the attention to the whole of the body.
Lying here on the bed or the mat.
The head,
The shoulders,
The arms by our sides.
The back,
The chest,
The abdomen.
Pelvis.
The thighs and the knees,
The calves,
Our feet.
The whole of the body lying here now.
Resting in awareness of having spent 30 minutes or so in self-care.
Looking after ourselves and giving ourselves a little bit of space and time.
Starting to become familiar with this body scan practice.
Noting how we feel right now.
Perhaps making a little note in our workbook of how we feel.
Regardless of how we feel,
Giving ourselves some recognition for having taken this time.
As we finish the practice,
Giving some consideration to how we move from this quiet time into the next moments of our day.
And perhaps as best we can,
Trying to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Give it some kindness to ourselves.
