Basic Body Scan (No Music)

This is a basic Body Scan Meditation that I teach. This is a great relaxation practice that I recommended at the beginning of each day or if you need a mid-day pick me up. I recommend doing this in a safe quiet space. Give yourself a few extra minutes at the end to allow the time needed to come back to the physical space before you get going with the rest of your day.

Transcript

Hi,

My name is Kat and welcome to my basic body scan meditation.

So body scans are an excellent exercise for relaxation.

Body scans do not require us to move,

It's just about bringing our awareness to the different parts of the body that are mentioned.

And just noticing where we may be holding on to any sort of stress or even discomfort within our body.

So let's begin.

Find a comfortable seated position in a safe space.

Make sure you are warm enough.

And when you're ready,

Slowly close your eyes or gently shift your gaze to the floor.

So let's begin.

Gently bring your awareness to the top of your head.

Just notice where the top of your head is.

Now let the muscles in your forehead and your temples begin to relax.

Notice your eyes and gently give them permission to begin to soften.

Notice the area above your eyes.

Notice the area below your eyes.

Now notice the corners to each of your eyes and gently give all these areas permission to just relax and to soften.

Permission to just be exactly how they are in this moment,

No questions asked.

Now gently shift your focus to your cheeks and your jaw.

So when you do this,

You may or may not notice a sort of tightening sensation in either your cheeks or your jaw or perhaps both.

If so,

Try repeating the word soften,

Soften,

Soften quietly to yourself and just see if by this simple act of just recognizing any sort of sensation or even tension without needing to attach any sort of reason for it or even any sort of blame towards it.

If this sensation or even tension starts to release on its own.

Now gently shift your focus to your nose and just notice your breath in this space.

If possible,

Feel the sensation of your breath as you inhale through your nostrils and as you exhale through your nostrils.

Gently shift your focus to the inside of your mouth.

Try visualizing a slight smile as you draw your awareness to the corners of your lips.

And now down to your chin.

So let's try visualizing a little bit more.

Let's try visualizing our own awareness of our breath.

Start to travel down our necks and continue on into the muscles of our shoulders.

Just imagine breathing in to your shoulders and breathing out from your shoulders.

So the shoulders are a common area that many of us will store our stress.

This stress could be a result of a physical activity or maybe it's a result of an emotional or even mental state of being and the shoulders are just where we seem to store it within our body.

So just allow your breath to serve you as your own healing guide if you feel any sort of stress or even tension in the area of your shoulders by just continuing to visualize.

Breathing in to your shoulders and breathing out from your shoulders.

On your next inhale,

Bring your awareness to the top of your arms.

And as you exhale,

Try visualizing your breath traveling down your arms to meet your elbows,

Your forearms,

Your wrists,

Your palms,

And your fingers.

Now gently shift your focus to the tips of your fingers and just notice if any sort of sensation starts to arise when you do this.

So this sensation is what's known as emotional energy.

And emotional energy exists within each and every one of us.

Sometimes under some circumstances,

We become aware of our own emotional energy.

Other times we do not.

And both experiences are okay.

Now gently shift your focus to your chest and just notice your breath in this space.

Your chest rises when you inhale and it falls when you exhale.

Now try visualizing your breath traveling down to your stomach.

As you inhale,

Just notice how your belly likes to relax and to soften.

And as you exhale,

Just allow your breath to naturally guide you in letting go of anything that may not serve you at this moment.

So maybe try visualizing,

Breathing in some form of courage and breathing out some form of fear.

Breathing in some form of love and breathing out some form of indifference.

Now gently turn your attention to your back and just notice the top of your back.

Try visualizing a relaxing sensation start to flow all the way down your spine.

Now gently shift your focus to your hips.

So the hips are a common area that many of us store our emotions.

And these emotions may become stuck from time to time.

So gently pay attention to any sort of sensation that may arise at this time from the area of your hips and just greet it with acceptance or even the intention of acceptance.

Just allowing it to be exactly how it is.

Now notice the pressure between your sitting bone and your seat.

Bring your awareness to the back of your thighs and now the front of your thighs.

Gently shift your focus down to your knees.

Now into your calves,

Your shins.

Just notice where your ankles are.

And lastly your feet.

Now feel if there may be any sort of sensation when you lightly place your focus on your toes.

Now give your body an internal scan starting at the bottom of your feet and going up all the way to the top of your head.

Just notice how it feels right now inside your body.

So sometimes we have words that can accurately describe how we're feeling in this moment.

Other times we do not and both experiences are okay.

Now gently shift your focus to where you feel your breath the strongest in your body.

Notice your next inhale and notice your next exhale.

When you feel ready you can gently start to open your eyes.