So this is a short 10 minute body scan that you can dip in and out of during your day,
Either on your lunch break,
At bedtime,
In the morning,
A quick way of really connecting with your body and checking in with yourself.
I hope you enjoy.
So wherever you find yourself right now sitting or lying down,
Make sure you're as comfortable as you possibly can be.
Connecting in with your posture,
If possible feet on the floor and your head as if been pulled up by a thread really elongating the spine and the neck.
So our intention with these shorter body scans is just to keep our awareness and our intention on different parts of our bodies as we check in to see how we really are and move from that thinking busy mind,
Giving the mind a break as we just drop right down into the body.
So just connecting with your breath.
See where you can feel the breath in the body.
Maybe the rise and fall of the chest.
The sensation of air as it enters the nose or the exhale as we let go.
And maybe just notice on the exhale how when we release the breath how the body tends to relax a little as well.
Maybe noticing what parts of the body allow ease as we exhale.
And bringing the awareness now right down to the feet.
Becoming aware of the soles of the feet on the floor and the sensation of the weight of the feet against the floor.
Becoming aware of the toes,
The big toe,
The smaller toes.
Maybe the sensation of socks against the skin or shoes against the feet.
And just notice if you can sense any sensation in the feet.
Maybe a tingling.
Maybe a pulsing.
And if you can congratulate yourself that you've noticed this.
So just taking into your awareness the whole of both feet.
The fronts of the feet.
The tips of the toes.
The sides of the feet.
The heels.
Maybe sensing into the feet before moving up to the ankles.
The delicacy of the ankles.
Any sensations here around the boner parts.
Just noticing how they are before moving up to the lower legs.
The calves at the backs of the lower legs.
Any holding here,
Any pulling sensation.
And the shins at the front of the lower legs.
Moving up to the knees.
Again the boner parts at the front of the knees.
And that delicate area at the backs of the knees.
The different sensations here.
Maybe becoming aware of the bend that you have on the knees where you are.
And we're not trying to change anything here.
We're just noticing how our body is right now.
Moving up to the thighs.
Here it's a good opportunity to notice this larger muscle that really supports us.
Maybe the weight or the volume of this muscle against the chair or the bed.
Or wherever you find yourself.
How it feels.
How it's been held.
Any internal sensations.
Moving up to the hips.
The pelvic area.
The lower back.
Just becoming aware of these delicate parts of the body.
How they feel right now.
And I invite you to take a nice slow deep breath through the lower part of the body.
Really inhaling through the centre of the lower part of the body now.
Just hips,
Lower back,
Thighs,
Buttocks,
Knees,
Lower legs,
Ankles and feet.
And then just letting go as you exhale.
So bringing your full attention now to the tummy area,
The belly area.
Maybe noticing any gurgling,
Any bubbling,
Any tenderness.
Becoming aware of the lower back and any sensations that you note here.
Moving up to just below the thorax and the mid back.
And just noticing any sensations here.
In the area we experience butterflies.
Maybe notice how that part of the body feels right now.
Moving up to the chest and the lungs.
Noticing the rise and fall of the chest.
Knowing that this body knows exactly what to do.
And we can sit back and watch the breath rise and fall all by itself without any effort on our part.
Becoming aware of the shoulders,
The upper back.
Noticing how the shoulders feel right now.
Right down to the upper arms,
The elbows,
The lower arms,
The wrists,
The hands and the fingertips.
Just noticing any sensations here that need to be noted.
Becoming aware of the neck,
The throat,
The sides of the neck.
Right up to the jaw.
The lips,
The mouth,
The teeth.
And that sensation of warmth or moistness in the mouth.
And the sensation of lips on the outside of the body.
Becoming aware of the face,
The facial muscles,
The nose,
The eyes,
The forehead.
The whole of the scalp.
And the sensation of hair that might be touching off your skin.
Becoming aware of the very top of the head now.
And I invite you to take a nice slow deep breath.
Right through the top of the head all the way through the centre of the body.
Allowing it to fill the whole of the body right down to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers.
And as you exhale just letting go of the breath through the tips of the fingers and through the tips of the toes out of the body.
And notice how when you exhale the body tends to relax a little bit more.
So just as we come to the end of this practice now bringing into awareness the full volume of your whole body.
All the way down from the top of the head,
The neck,
The throat,
The shoulders,
The arms right down to the hands and the fingertips.
The length of the spine,
The front of the chest.
The tummy,
The hips,
The lower back.
The buttocks.
The weight of the thighs sitting or lying.
The knees,
The shins,
The ankles and the feet against the floor or the heels if you're lying down against the bed or the floor.
And just bringing some gratitude to yourself for checking in with your body to see how it is right now.
And when you're ready wiggle in the fingers,
Wiggle in the toes and just allowing yourself a nice big stretch before moving on with your day or your next activity mindfully.
Good conduct.
