Body Scan Meditation

A great choice for beginners, this simple but gentle body scan meditation will leave you feeling soothed and relaxed. Please note: this track was not professionally recorded. It was one of the first tracks added to the Insight Timer app and we are including it here as it is still popular with listeners. Legacy track.

Transcript

This is Kate James.

You're listening to the Body Scan Meditation.

Begin your meditation by taking the breath deep into the lungs.

Just observing the breath as you begin the meditation and becoming aware of your body.

Notice the parts of the body that are in contact with the chair.

Notice the parts of the body that are in contact with the floor.

And also become aware of different parts of your body touching other parts.

Just bring your attention fully into your physical being.

Connect with the breath and connect with the sensation of breathing.

Notice what happens in your body as you breathe.

The more that you settle into being connected with the breath and with the body,

You'll begin to notice that the breath goes more easily into the deeper parts of your lungs.

And you might begin to notice that the body starts to soften and settle.

Just allowing yourself to begin to relax.

So begin by taking the attention to the top of the head.

Notice if there's any tightness anywhere in the scalp and imagine it's easy to let that go.

Bring your awareness to the forehead.

Notice if there's any tightness or tension anywhere in the forehead.

Imagine you can easily let those muscles relax and allow the eyebrows to drop.

Soften the muscles around the eyes and relax down into the cheeks and jaw.

Unlocking any tightness in the jaw and letting your tongue feel soft in your mouth.

Imagine that all of the muscles in the face and the scalp now feel completely relaxed.

Relax the muscles down through the neck,

The front of the neck,

The sides of the neck and imagine a sensation like warm water being poured over the back of the neck.

Flowing down across the top of the shoulders softening all of those muscles.

Allowing the shoulders to drop.

Just letting go of any tightness or tension in this area.

Then let that feeling flow down into your upper arms,

Into your forearms and down into your hands.

Relax each of your fingers from the thumb across to the index finger,

The middle finger,

Ring finger and little finger.

So that your fingers feel weak and soft.

Your arms and your hands begin to feel heavy.

Then bring your attention back up to the chest.

Notice if there's any tightness anywhere in the chest and imagine you can easily let that go.

And allow that feeling of relaxation to flow down into the abdomen and soften all of the muscles in the abdomen all the way through the internal muscles to the back.

Then squeeze through the muscles in the back.

Then scanning from the base of the spine right the way up the back to the shoulders.

Letting go of any tightness or tension you feel anywhere in the back.

And just become aware now that the upper body,

The neck and the shoulders,

The face and the scalp.

Now feel completely relaxed.

Bring your attention down to your hips and thighs.

Let go of any tightness in the top of the thighs,

The back of the thighs,

The inner and outer thighs.

And let that feeling flow down into your knees,

Down into your calves and your shins.

Into the ankles and down into the feet and toes.

Relaxing each of your toes from the big toe across to the little toes.

Just noticing again that the body feels completely relaxed.

As you start to physically relax you might become more aware of thoughts or other sensations that you're having elsewhere in your body.

As much as you can just observe those.

Try not to attach to them.

When you notice that your mind is wandering just gently guide it back to being fully aware of your physical being.

If it helps just guide your attention back to the breath.

Just once again notice the breath,

Notice the movement of the breath in the body.

It might be a little longer and slower than it was before.

Stand over your body and become aware of any other sensations that you feel.

You might notice that parts of the body feel cooler or warmer.

Maybe there's some lingering tightness somewhere that you can take the breath to and breathe out.

Just enjoying being with the experience of physical relaxation and trusting that with every breath you take you can allow yourself to go more deeply into that beautiful state of letting go,

Completely resting the body,

Allowing all of the muscles to soften.

When the mind wanders gently guiding the attention back becoming aware of the physical sensations anywhere in your body and just being with whatever it is that you experience.

Not judging it as right or wrong and not judging your meditation.

Whatever your experience is,

Is perfectly okay.

So just stay with this feeling of physical relaxation.

Spend a minute listening to the music,

Allowing the body to settle and relax.

Just allowing yourself to completely let go.

Just letting yourself let go.

Once again just scanning back over the body,

Notice any of the sensations you feel.

Being aware that the body now feels quiet and still.

You feel centered and present to your experience.

This feeling of relaxation is something you can carry forward into your day.

Or if you're going to sleep you can carry forward into your sleep.

As we come to the end of the meditation just begin to wriggle your toes gently.

Wriggle your fingers.

Allow your body to become a little more alert and awake.

When you're ready slowly opening your eyes bringing your attention back into the present.

Reviews

Easily the best body scan meditation I've heard in the past 10 years!

So relaxing 👍 The pace and your voice are perfect in helping to relax, feel and settle back into my body. Thank you.

So lovely. Really enjoyed the music at the end. Thank you. 🙏

Very relaxing meditation! This is a great bed time meditation 🙏

I enjoyed this body scan very much. I feel completely relaxed and much lighter. Thank you so much 🙏🏼

This was exactly what I needed this morning! Thank you!

Wonderful body scan. A really great pre-bed time ritual!

Very calming and relaxing. Helped to counteract some of my back and neck pain. Great as a tool for centering the mind also. Thanks

Perfect for trauma release and getting in touch with my body

Just what I needed. Found it easy to slip into body part relaxation. Background music was not overpowering. The little midday self-care I needed

Gentle and grounding. Your words and voice are like a warm, welcoming embrace. Thank you.

Beautiful meditation. Lovely pace and soothing background music to help bring about a sense of ease. Thank you

Beautiful, I am a tense person but I got so relaxed I was drooling

Perfect! Helps me to relax without falling asleep. Ahh I love this ❤️

So soothing, it helped my body to calm down after awakening in the night.

Lovely body scan. Easy to stay with and follow for the best experience.

I have listened to this one many times. It helps
Me relax. 🙏🏻

Lovely body scan meditation . Thank you so much ! ❤️🙏

Wonderful Bodyscan to arrive in the body from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Perfecly prepared to start in the day. Thank you! 😊🙏🏻

Sensing hot area of my body. Relaxed to the music almost immediately. I've been tired all day yet I was able to maintain attention .