Body Scan Meditation (MBSR)

Body scan meditation in the tradition of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). By practicing this meditation reguarly you will develop greater flexibility of attention and stability of the mind.

Transcript

As you settle into this practice,

Finding a comfortable way to lie down or to sit,

Making arrangements not to be interrupted,

And setting the intention to be awake and alert to your experience as best you can.

By practicing the body scan regularly,

You'll be developing greater flexibility of attention and qualities of greater stability of mind,

Of stillness,

And physical and mental ease.

A kind of curious,

Relaxed awareness.

As much as possible,

Try to find a place and a time to practice where you feel comfortable wearing or adjusting your clothing so that it allows your breath to be full and natural.

And really setting this time aside for you to be by yourself,

Offering your energy and attention fully to yourself,

Allowing the natural process of awareness and learning and healing to unfold on its own.

There's a paradox in this practice where the harder we try to have a particular experience,

Such as relaxation or letting go,

The more tense and restless we become.

What's most important here is that we're becoming more and more aware of our moment-to-moment experience.

So simply acknowledging and accepting whatever your experience is,

Seeing it more clearly.

Perhaps just saying,

Oh,

This is how it is right now.

Whether the experience is pleasant or unpleasant,

Wanted or unwanted,

It's really natural for us to sometimes want things to be different from how they actually are.

In the body scan,

We simply acknowledge and allow things to be exactly as we find them,

And really allowing yourself to be just as you are.

These instructions will guide you through different parts of your body,

Becoming aware of and exploring just what you're feeling in each area from moment to moment.

And of course,

You'll be aware of thoughts from time to time,

Thoughts about the practice,

About the past or the future.

And when you notice this,

In particular,

If you notice judgmental or critical thoughts,

Letting them go and,

As best you can,

Gently returning your attention back to the instructions and following along wherever we are.

So simply becoming aware of what's happening in your body,

How you feel,

And knowing that there's no right way to feel.

Just feeling how you feel is fine.

And if any part of the instructions about posture,

About lying on your back,

Don't feel right for your body,

Please find a way to position yourself that is most comfortable.

What's most important is your engagement and attentiveness,

Being awake and alert as you cultivate this kind of relaxed awareness.

So if you haven't already,

Beginning to lie down on a mat on the floor,

On your bed,

Somewhere else comfortable,

And beginning to allow your eyes to close gently,

If that feels right for you.

And slowly bringing your attention to the very fact that you're breathing.

Not changing your breath in any way,

But simply experiencing your breath as it comes in and out of your body.

And bringing your attention to the area of your abdomen and feeling the sensations in that area as your breath comes into your body and the belly expands gently.

And as the breath moves out of your body and the belly sinks.

And just following the movements,

The flow of the rising of your belly on the in-breath and the falling of the belly on the out-breath.

And on each out-breath,

Feeling the release of the air from your body and perhaps also letting your body sink more fully into the floor,

Into the surface you're resting on.

And offering your full attention from moment to moment to your breathing.

Noticing the breath as you're breathing in and noticing the sensations of the breath as you're breathing out.

Feeling this constant flow of in-breath and out-breath from moment to moment.

Feeling the gentle expansion rising on the in-breath and the sinking as the belly deflates with every out-breath.

Settling more and more fully with each out-breath into the surface that you're resting on.

Really with nothing else to do,

Nowhere else to go.

Just simply being here with the breathing.

And when you're ready to,

Beginning to shift the focus of your attention from your belly and moving it into your left foot.

Perhaps using the out-breath to direct your attention and releasing the belly from your attention and directing your attention with the out-breath into your left foot and all the way down into your toes.

And sensing into just what sensations are here to be felt in the toes right now.

Perhaps there's a sense of the toes touching one another or of a sense of moisture or dryness or tingling.

Or maybe there's no sensation at all,

Just kind of registering a blank.

And if that's the case then just simply noticing that,

Hmm,

No sensation.

And just maintaining a curious,

Open awareness moment to moment,

Experiencing just what's there in the toes of the left foot.

Experiencing the big toe and the little toe.

And seeing if there's a sense of all of the toes in between.

Not needing to move them at all,

Just feeling them in stillness.

And perhaps breathing with the toes,

Breathing with this awareness of sensation in the toes.

And on an out-breath,

Letting go and shifting your attention into the bottom of the foot now.

Feeling the entire sole of the foot from the heel through the arch and the ball of the foot.

Feeling the sensation of the heel where it makes contact.

Sensations on the surface of the skin and deeper inside the foot.

Maybe there's a sense of the solidity of the foot or the temperature.

And shifting your attention to the top of the foot,

The skin on top and knowing that the bones are in there and just sensing what the feeling is inside the foot.

And including the ankle,

Perhaps just noticing the position of the ankle,

Whether it's bent downwards or upwards.

Just noticing what sensations are here for you to be known in the foot and the ankle.

And perhaps on an out-breath,

Letting go of the left foot and ankle and shifting your attention into the left lower leg.

Sensing into the shin bone in the front and the calf muscle in the back.

Sensing into the bones,

The muscles,

Just how do they feel?

What sensations present themselves to you?

Starting with these sensations.

Sensations on the surface,

Sensations deeper inside.

And beginning to let go of the left lower leg and perhaps on an out-breath,

Letting go of the lower left leg,

Allowing it to sink further into the mat and moving into your left knee.

And sensing into the kneecap in the front,

The sides of the knee,

The back of the knee.

Sensing the whole knee joint,

Perhaps noticing if there's any sensations of discomfort here,

Particularly if there usually are sensations of discomfort here.

Just how is it right now?

And breathing with this awareness of the left knee.

And on an out-breath,

When you're ready to,

Letting go of the left knee and shifting your attention up into the left thigh,

From the knee joint all the way up to the hip socket,

The thigh bone,

The fleshiness of the thigh,

Just how does it feel?

Sensing if there's tension in the muscles or if they're soft and relaxed.

And perhaps if there is tension here,

If it's possible to on an out-breath,

Letting go of that tension,

Releasing the leg and the leg muscles.

And just simply sensing into what sensations are here to be felt in the left thigh.

And expanding your attention once again to include the entirety of the left leg,

From the hip joint all the way down to the toes.

Just a sense of breathing with the entirety of the left leg.

And on an out-breath,

Letting go of the left leg,

Releasing it from your awareness,

Releasing any holding of the left leg,

And shifting your attention into the right leg and into the foot,

The right foot.

And without needing to move the toes in the foot,

Sensing into just what sensations are here in the toes of the right foot.

Sensing if each individual toe is sensed,

Perhaps contact or moisture or warmth or coolness,

The sensation of your sock touching the toes perhaps,

Or the air.

Just simply allowing your experience to be just however it is.

There's no right way for the toes to feel.

And including the sole of the foot now in your awareness,

And the heel deep inside the foot and the top of the foot,

Breathing with whatever sensations are here to be felt in the entire foot.

And noticing the right ankle now,

Perhaps the position of the ankle,

Feeling into the ankle joint,

The bones on either side of the ankle,

And breathing with this awareness of the entire right foot and ankle.

And as you're ready to,

Perhaps on an out-breath,

Letting go of the right foot and ankle and shifting your attention into the right lower leg,

Offering this area your curiosity and attention,

Just what's here to be felt in the muscles of the calf.

How do they feel?

Softness,

Solidity,

The bone in the front of the leg.

Outside of the leg.

And when you're ready to,

Shifting your attention into the right knee,

Perhaps noticing if the sensations in the right knee are different than the sensations in the left,

Sensing into the kneecap,

Deeper into the knee joint,

The cartilage,

The ligaments on the sides.

We know they're there,

But just what sensations are here to be felt in the back of the knee?

Perhaps just knowing the posture of the knee,

Whether it's straight or if it's bent,

Whether there's discomfort or neutrality in the knee.

And perhaps on an out-breath,

Letting go of the right knee and shifting your awareness into the right thigh now,

The entire upper right leg from the knee joint up into the hip.

Any sensations here to be felt at all?

Perhaps the sense of the weight of the leg or the pulsation of the blood flowing,

Feeling whatever's here to be felt in the muscles of the thigh,

The bone,

Where the thigh meets the pelvis at the hip socket,

And expanding your attention once again to include the entirety of the right leg from the hip joint all the way down to the toes,

And just breathing with this entire right leg and this awareness of this leg resting here.

And just whatever sensations are here,

Offering them your kind and curious attention.

And perhaps taking just a fuller,

Deeper breath in and on an out-breath,

Letting go of the leg and moving into the pelvis now,

This entire region of the pelvic basin from the right hip to the left,

The buttocks in the back and the sacrum in the middle,

Feeling and sensing into the contents of the pelvis,

The softness of the organs,

Perhaps sensations of the weight of this area of the body,

The area of the genitals and the anus,

And the feeling the entire region of the pelvis,

Sensations and areas perhaps of no sensations,

Simply acknowledging that and breathing with the entirety of this pelvic region.

Perhaps there's even a sense of the breath moving through this area,

Simply being present in each moment to whatever sensations present themselves,

Sinking into this state of relaxed awareness and relative stillness.

And perhaps on an out-breath,

Shifting your attention,

Moving into the area of the lower back and in particular this area where many of us feel some uncomfortable sensations sometimes,

Simply noticing right now what sensations are here,

Subtle sensations,

More intense sensations allowing your attention to penetrate this area,

Noticing muscles tense or relaxed,

Perhaps breathing with any tension that is here or any discomfort.

There may be the possibility on an out-breath of releasing some of the tension in the lower back,

Allowing the back to settle more fully into the surface that you're resting on.

And shifting attention now into the area of the middle and upper back,

The area that includes the spine and the rib cage and the shoulder blades,

Noticing what sensations are here,

Sometimes sensations of fatigue or tightness in this area that works often so hard through the day.

What sensations are here now?

Sometimes there's a sense of the breath in this area where the rib cage,

Even in the back of the body,

Expands subtly on the in-breath and contracts gently on the out-breath,

Allowing the back to sink further into the floor,

Into the surface you're resting on,

On an out-breath,

Allowing your body to rest in stillness,

Just as it is,

Just as you are.

And then when you're ready to,

Beginning to shift your attention into the area of your belly and sensing the rising and falling of the abdomen as the diaphragm expands and contracts,

Bringing oxygen into your body.

And sensing into the area of the chest now,

Including the rib cage and the lungs.

Maybe there's a sense of the lungs expanding to allow air into your body.

And sometimes there's a sense of the beating of the heart,

Experiencing the entire area of the chest,

The area of the breasts,

Muscles,

Bones,

Feeling the entire front of the torso,

Including the chest and the belly.

And perhaps on an out-breath,

Releasing this area from your attention and releasing it further into the floor.

And shifting your attention now into the hands,

Into both hands,

And moving your attention to feel the very tips of the fingers and the thumbs on both hands,

Noticing the position of the fingers and the thumbs,

Whether they're curled or straight.

Perhaps there's some sensation of the blood flowing through here,

Sensations of moisture,

Of temperature,

And just whatever feelings are here on the palms of the hands,

The backs of the hands,

The insides of the entire hand.

And moving into the wrists,

Perhaps there's some sense of pulsation here.

That sensations are here in the wrists,

Perhaps different from left to right.

And moving into the area of the forearms that allow such flexibility of movement,

And the elbows,

Any sensations at all,

Whether they're pleasant or unpleasant or neutral,

Just how is this body right now?

In the upper arms,

The fleshiness,

The bones,

All the way up to the armpits and the shoulders.

Just noticing in the area of the shoulders right now,

The shoulders being an area that we often hold tension in.

Just how are they right now?

Is there tension in the left side or the right side?

And how is it in the arms,

Sensing into the entirety of the arms all the way down to the fingers,

Allowing the arms to simply rest here,

Allowing them to be known in this relaxed awareness?

That's just simply being here,

Being present with each moment,

With each experience.

Perhaps noticing thoughts as they arise,

Thoughts about the part of the body that you're focused on,

Thoughts about other things from the past or the future,

Perhaps thoughts about moving or impulses to move,

And just acknowledging that's your experience right now,

Just this thinking and this possibility of shifting the focus of your attention from the thoughts and back into the body and perhaps breathing with the sense of the arms resting here.

And on an out-breath,

Letting go of the arms and moving into the tops of the shoulders and into the neck,

The area of the throat,

Sensations perhaps of the breathing in this area,

Feeling the breath as it comes in and as it flows out.

Sensations of the muscles around the neck,

The spine,

Sensations of swallowing,

Holding this entire area of the neck and shoulders in your awareness.

Breathing with this area,

Quite literally breathing into this area of the neck and feeling it,

Just knowing these sensations in this moment.

And on an out-breath,

Releasing this area and shifting into the head now,

Moving into the area of the chin and the jawbone on either side of the chin,

Into the joint below the ears,

Sensing into the cheeks,

This area where we often hold facial expressions,

Just how is it in the cheeks right now?

Are they soft?

Are they firm,

Contracted?

Moving into the area of the lips and the mouth,

The sense of the gums and the teeth and the tongue,

Just where is the tongue in the mouth right now?

The roof of the mouth and the back of the mouth and throat,

Feeling this entire area of the mouth and lips and cheeks,

Just acknowledging whatever sensations are here.

And moving into the area of the nose now,

Awareness of the breathing at the nostrils,

Perhaps a sense of the temperature of the air as it enters through the nostrils and as it leaves through the nostrils.

Failing into the area of the eyes now,

The eyeballs,

The eyelids,

The muscles around the eyes,

Are the eyes closed gently or tightly?

Feeling the eyebrows and the space between the eyebrows and the entire area of both eyes.

And perhaps on an out-breath shifting attention to the area of the forehead and the temples,

This area where we sometimes feel tension and discomfort,

And just how is it right now?

What sensations are here?

Moving to from the temples to the ears,

Of course as receivers of sound,

But also this actual physicality of the feeling of the ears.

And feeling into the entirety of the face now,

From the inside,

Sensing into all of the muscles,

Perhaps feeling the blood flow,

Noticing if there's any particular expression on your face right now,

Or we so often express emotions and sense emotions.

Feeling with the entire face in your awareness,

Just the simplicity of your own face in stillness.

No matter what's happening below the surface,

The face can be at rest.

And shifting awareness into the top of the head now,

And the back of the head,

Perhaps sensing where your head may be resting,

Sensing into the skull,

And feeling into the inside of the head.

And expanding your attention now to include the entirety of your body resting here in stillness,

From the very crown and top of the head all the way down through your neck and shoulders,

The torso,

Pelvis,

Legs,

Down to the bottom of the feet,

And breathing with the awareness of the entire body.

Feeling the breath as it enters your body through the nose and as it leaves your body through the nose.

This breath bringing in oxygen distributed through your entire body through this amazing capacity of the organs of the lungs and the heart and the blood vessels,

Quite literally breathing into the entire body from head to toe.

Breathing into any areas that have particular more intense sensations,

Breathing with the awareness of this area,

Perhaps simply an area of contact.

And just simply acknowledging the uniqueness of this time that you're taking for yourself to simply rest here in stillness,

Offering your entire body this kind-hearted attention,

This intention to really offer your attention in this way,

Acknowledging just how it is in the body right now.

Areas of sensation,

Areas of sensation that are pleasant,

Unpleasant,

And neutral.

And regardless of whether the sensations are pleasant or not,

Simply offering your attention,

Breathing with just what's here.

Experiencing the sense of the wholeness of your body,

Just as it is,

In whatever condition.

Just as long as you're breathing,

There's more right with you than wrong with you.

Breathing into the envelope of the skin,

The subtle sensations of the movement of the breath,

And acknowledging the state of the mind right now,

Whether it's tired or energized,

Happy,

Sad,

Agitated,

Or calm.

Just simply noticing how it is in the mind right now,

And however it is,

And however it's been through this period of practice,

Just acknowledging this time that you've taken to be with yourself in this way.

And acknowledging the possibility to bring this kind of awareness into your day-to-day life,

The possibility of resting in your experience,

Breathing with awareness of just how things are from moment to moment.

And so resting in this awareness of this breathing body until the bells ring.

Bells.

Bells.

Bells.

Bells.

Bells.

Bells.

Bells.

Reviews

I enjoyed the introduction as well as the guided body scan. This could be used to help fall asleep - their voice was very relaxing.

So wonderfully calming for a body/mind that awoke tense and disturbed this morning. Many thanks!

Such a detailed (if I may put it so) and kind body sweeping meditation. Thank you.

This is an outstanding body scan from a fellow MBSR teacher. Thank you. 🥰

Very, very, very nice! The time seemed to fly. Nice soft instruction, great centering body scan. I also liked the bit of quiet at the end although the bell made me jump. Thank you for this practice. ☮️💖🙏

Excellent. Loved your voice and the way you guided

Very detailed bodyscan, nice rythm and i liked ending the experience with the silence, on my own, just accompanied by the bells

Love this MBSR Meditation.

Deeply relaxing

Excellent guidance. Very focused body scan.

Excellent body scan, clear gentle guidance to each exploration, thank you 🙏🏻

lovely. pace is slow enough to integrate other breathing practices (eg. Hobson's Accepting & Letting Go) during the full body integration/awareness at the end. Presencing "left" foot/ankle/leg more frequently in the beginning would help for those who take longer to get present & feel lost for a bit.

Great body scan, well navigated