Bodyscan Meditation

A guided body scan meditation to remove tension from your body and find presence and stillness within.

Transcript

Welcome to the Body Scan Meditation.

I invite you to set aside some time now in a place where you will be warm and comfortable and undisturbed.

Lying down on a mat or a bed,

It is also possible to do the Body Scan sitting in a chair.

And now taking time to settle into a comfortable position.

You may like to have a cushion under your head or at the back of your knees.

It may help you to bend your knees to relieve any discomfort in the lower back if any is present.

You may like to use a blanket to keep warm.

And now closing over your eyes if that feels comfortable.

Taking a few moments to become aware of your body.

Points of contact between your body and the floor or bed.

And as best you can allowing any tension to flow out of your body.

Out of your head,

Your shoulders,

Your back,

Your legs and feet.

Out of your arms and hands.

Allowing your body to sink more and more into the floor.

Allowing it to be supported by gravity.

And reminding yourself of the intention of this practice.

It is not to strive to feel any different,

Relaxed or calm.

This may or may not happen.

Instead the intention is to move the focus of your awareness around to each part of your body in turn.

Bringing your awareness to whatever your experience is in the present moment.

With a gentle curiosity.

Acknowledging what is there,

Whether pleasant or unpleasant.

And reminding yourself that the regular practice of spending time with yourself in this way.

With a kindly attitude can be very healing and stress reducing.

And now inviting you to bring your attention to the fact that you are breathing.

Paying attention to the movement of the breath in the body.

Noticing where you feel the breath most strongly.

Maybe in the nostrils or in the chest or in the belly.

And bringing your attention to focus gently on this area of the body.

Noticing how the body expands on the in-breath and falls back on the out-breath.

And just following the passage of the breath for a few breaths without changing it.

Just tuning in to the natural rhythm of your breathing.

And sooner or later you will notice that your mind has wandered.

This will happen many times during the meditation and it is not a mistake.

It's just what the mind likes to do.

It may wander into earlier conversations or plans for later.

Into restlessness or boredom or pleasant or unpleasant feelings or maybe daydreams.

When this happens just notice where the mind has gone.

And stay with it for a moment with an attitude of friendliness.

Before gently returning to the current focus of attention.

And now returning to the physical sensations of breathing in the body.

Perhaps noticing where the in-breath ends and the out-breath begins.

And noticing with each out-breath how the mind comes to inhabit the body more and more.

The body supported by the floor and the mind supported by the body.

And seeing if you can allow the breath to be an anchor for your attention.

If it can be a safe haven to return to.

If the mind becomes very busy or feelings very intense.

And now I invite you to shift your attention away from the breath.

And down the left leg into the left foot and out to the toes of the left foot.

Exploring your toes.

The big toe,

The little toe and the toes in between.

Noticing any sensations in the toes.

Perhaps tingling,

Warmth or coolness.

Perhaps the feeling of your sock on the toes.

Or maybe no particular sensations.

Just noticing.

Now moving your awareness from the toes to the sole of the foot.

The ball of the foot.

The arch.

And the heel.

Being aware of the contact between the heel of the left foot and the floor.

And now moving your attention around to the top of the foot and up to the ankle.

Bony part of the ankle.

And upwards from the ankle to the shin.

And the calf muscle.

Noticing any sensations of tightness or looseness in the calf muscle.

And the sensation of contact with the floor.

And now moving your attention away from the lower leg and focusing on the left knee.

The soft back of the knee.

And the bony front of the knee.

This part of the body that often works hard during the day.

And noticing perhaps feelings of tiredness or discomfort if any are present.

And now inviting you to sweep your attention up from the knee to the thigh muscle.

Full length of the thigh from the knee to the pelvis.

Paying attention to your experience of the left thigh in this moment.

And now as a way of focusing attention on the entire left leg.

I invite you to try imagining on the next in-breath that you are directing the breath down through the body and down the left leg and down to the toes on the left foot.

And on an out-breath letting your breath flow upwards from the toes through the left leg and out through the mouth or nose.

And inviting you to try this for a few breaths.

Imagining the breath like a wave sweeping down through the body to the toes.

And the wave coming back in as the breath travels back out through the body.

And now allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.

And now moving your attention to the right leg.

Bringing your attention to the toes of the right foot.

And seeing what you can notice here.

The big toe,

The little toe and the toes in between.

And moving your awareness from the toes to the sole of the foot,

The ball of the foot,

The arch and the heel.

Aware of the contact between the heel of the right foot and the floor.

And now moving your attention around to the top of the foot and up to the ankle.

And from the ankle to the shin bone and the calf muscle.

Noticing any sensations present in the calf muscle.

And now moving your attention up from the lower leg up to the right knee.

The soft back of the knee and the bony front of the knee.

Noticing any sensations of pain or discomfort if any are present.

Any other sensations or perhaps none at all.

Just noticing.

Now inviting you to sweep your attention up from the right knee to the thigh muscle.

Full length of the thigh from the knee to the pelvis.

Paying attention to your experience of the right thigh in this moment.

And inviting you now on an in-breath to imagine directing your breath down through the full length of the body.

Down the right leg to the toes.

And on an out-breath imagining the breath flowing back up through the body from the right toes and out through the mouth or nose.

And if it feels comfortable repeating this breathing technique a few more times.

And now allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.

And you may notice the mind drifting away from this guidance into thought or perhaps sleepiness or restlessness.

And that is perfectly normal and understandable.

When this happens the encouragement is to gently come back to the instructions as best you can again and again.

Now directing the focus of your attention to the pelvis.

Pelvic bones,

Cradling the internal organs and noticing any sensations that are present here.

And moving your attention from the pelvic area and up to the belly.

The lower abdomen and the middle part of the belly.

Noticing the sensations of breathing here.

And bringing your attention now around to the lower back.

Noticing if there are sensations of discomfort.

Noticing the arch of the lower back.

Or if your knees are bent noticing the feel of contact between the lower back and the floor.

And perhaps noticing the movement of the breath in the lower back and the upper back resting on the floor.

Noticing how the breath can have a massaging effect in the back as the ribs expand and contract.

And bringing your attention from your upper back to the shoulders.

Exploring the shoulders.

This is an area of the body where tension tends to accumulate during the day.

If this is the case seeing if you can allow the shoulders to let go of tension with each out-breath.

And if that is not possible at the moment that is okay too.

And now inviting you to move your awareness around to the chest area.

Noticing any sensations in the chest.

Being aware of the beating of the heart.

And tuning in to the rhythm of the heartbeat.

And now becoming aware of the ribcage expanding on the in-breath and contracting on the out-breath.

Bringing the focus of your attention now to both arms.

From the right shoulder to the right elbow and the left shoulder to the left elbow.

Noticing the points of contact between the upper arms and the floor.

Noticing the depth of the armpits.

Bony part of the elbow.

And the soft inner side.

Noticing any sensations.

Allowing your awareness to travel down from the elbows to the lower arms.

Healing the lower arms.

Bringing your attention to each wrist.

And now focusing on the hands.

Backs of each hand.

And the palms of the hands.

Noticing any sensations of tingling,

Warmth or coolness in the hands.

Or perhaps no particular sensations.

Focusing now on the thumbs of each hand.

And each finger in turn.

Exploring your fingers.

Now bringing your attention again to both arms.

From the shoulders to the tips of the fingers.

And if it feels comfortable you can imagine directing the next in-breath down through the arms to the fingers.

And on an out-breath allowing the breath to flow up from the fingers through the arms and out of the body.

Inviting you to repeat this deliberate breathing a few more times before returning to the natural rhythm of your breathing.

And now moving the spotlight of your awareness to the neck.

And into the throat.

Noticing any tension that may be present.

And if so letting go as best you can.

And now moving your awareness up from the throat to the chin and jaw.

This is another area of the body that often holds tension.

Noticing if the jaw is loose or tense.

And if so perhaps allowing it to soften.

Noticing the mouth and the lips.

Inside the mouth.

Perhaps being aware of saliva.

Bringing your attention to the tongue.

The area under the tongue.

The teeth.

The roof of the mouth.

And now paying attention to the face.

Facial muscles.

Noticing if they are tense or soft.

Becoming aware of the nose and the nostrils.

Perhaps noticing the movement of the breath entering and leaving the nostrils.

And now bringing your attention to both ears.

The earlobes.

The outer ear.

And the inner ear.

Spending a little time just noticing the ears.

Now moving attention away from the ears and focusing on the eyes.

Noticing any sensation around the eyes.

The eyelids.

The eye sockets.

The eyebrows.

And moving your attention up to the forehead.

And up to the roots of the hair.

Crown of the head.

And the back of the head.

Where it makes contact with the floor.

And now coming towards the end of this body scan meditation.

Inviting you to imagine directing the breath through the entire body.

The entire body breathing in and breathing out.

Imagining the breath like a wave coming in through the crown of the head.

Sweeping through the entire body.

And then on an out breath flowing back out from the soles of your feet through the full length of the body and out through the crown of your head.

And if you would like to and if this feels comfortable you can practice this breathing technique a few more times.

Returning now to the natural rhythm of the breath and focusing your attention on the sensations of breathing in the belly.

The in breath and the out breath.

And sensing how the body is feeling now after spending this time moving attention around to each part.

Allowing your feelings and experience to be just as they are with an attitude of friendliness and acceptance.

Perhaps giving yourself some praise or stepping out of the usual busyness of life and spending some time just paying attention to this body through which you live your life.

And seeing if you can bring a sense of this body awareness to the next part of your day.

And now in preparation for ending the body scan becoming aware of the room you are in.

Noticing sounds.

Opening your eyes.

Allowing some small movements of your fingers and toes.

Hands.

And feet.

And now maybe some larger movement of legs and arms.

Perhaps stretching.

Rolling left and right.

And in your own time rolling over on one side.

Resting there for a while before sitting up and moving into the next moments of your day.

And now in preparation for ending the body scan becoming aware of the room you are in.

Reviews

Juliet, your voice is pure heaven. Thank you so very much for your beautiful practice.

True to the MBCT format. Clearly guided, with a beautiful voice. Thank you.

A classic bidyscan with nice details and ideas of breathing Thank you very much for a wonderful start in my day! I will practice this again 🙏🏼.

Calming voice, simple directions, and relaxing to be here.

Beautiful Irish accent and calming voice makes this a ideal meditation.

Good pace and nice voice, one of the best MBSR body scans here on Insight Timer. Thanks!

Beautifully paced, one of my favourite body scans. Thank you for sharing.

Such a gentle meditation, thank you xx

Perfect body scan with instructions. Thanks!!

Very calming and effective

She has a really nice voice!

Nice pace. Doesn’t feel like 30 mins. Beautiful voice. 🙏🏻

That was perhaps the best body scan I ever listened to. Thank you so much!

Wow, this is such an uncomplicated, beautiful practice, thank you 💖

Gentle compassionate Irish voice

Didn't hear it all this time. I was out like a light! Blessings!

Feel asleep in the middle, very relaxing.

Easy bodyscan with good instructions.

Wonderful body awareness...thank you for sharing.

Sublime meditation!