Thanks for joining me in this practice body scan for bedtime.
I'll guide you through two rounds of a body scan to soothe and unwind the nervous system so you can drift peacefully into a deep sleep.
To begin,
Let's find a comfortable position.
You might lay on your back and perhaps rest on your side.
Using any pillows to support your body,
Perhaps bringing some pillows under the knees,
Behind the shoulders,
Behind the back of the head.
Let's begin with three rounds of the physiological sigh,
Taking one full breath in through the nose,
One more sip of air and releasing with a sigh like this.
Let's try it together,
Inhale,
Extra breath and sigh it out.
And again,
One more time.
Begin to draw your awareness inward,
Opening yourself to any sensations present in the body,
Noticing if there's any movement you could do to make yourself even more comfortable.
Perhaps shifting the shoulders or hips,
Stretching through the ankles and toes and allowing your body to find stillness.
Welcoming stillness in the mind,
Welcoming stillness in the muscles,
Imagining stillness might settle over you like a warm,
Heavy blanket,
Welcoming rest to every cell of the body.
First,
Body scan,
Focus on sensations,
Noting the temperature,
Noting pulsing,
Buzzing,
Tingling,
And perhaps the lack of sensation.
And without labeling as good or bad,
Noticing any points of tension,
Noticing any points of ease,
Beginning with the soles of the feet,
Drawing your awareness to the bottom of the right foot and the bottom of the left foot,
And shifting to sensation along the top of the feet.
Awareness begins spiraling up the leg,
The ankles,
The calf muscles,
The shin bone,
Noticing sensation in the front of the knees,
The back of the knees,
Awareness spiraling up and around the thighs,
The inside of the thighs,
The back of the thighs,
The front of the hip joint,
Sensing the right hip,
The right side of the pelvic bowl,
The left side of the pelvic bowl,
The left hip joint,
Sensing the tailbone,
The sacrum,
The whole pelvic bowl together,
The low belly,
The navel center,
The right side of the rib cage,
And the left side of the rib cage,
The center of the chest,
Drawing awareness to both collarbones,
The back of the shoulder blades,
Sensing now the entire length of the spine,
The center of the back of the head,
The crown of the head,
The center of the forehead,
The tip of the nose,
The tip of the chin,
The center of the base of the throat,
Dividing your awareness equally between right arm and left arm,
Sensing the shoulder joints,
Awareness spiraling toward the fingertips,
Sensing the back of the upper arm,
The front of the upper arm,
The inside of the elbow joint,
The outside of the elbow joint,
Front of the forearm,
Back of the forearm,
The back of the hands,
And the palm of the hands,
Expanding awareness to include the entire front side of the body,
Continuing to notice and map sensations here.
Awareness permeates the back side of the body.
Could you welcome in the whole body together,
Slowly shifting awareness to the center of the forehead,
Changing the aperture of focus from the whole body to one singular point of focus in the center of the forehead.
I'd like you to let your mind begin to remember or begin to imagine remembering a time when you felt so deeply tired,
A time when your body was heavy,
Your eyes were tired,
Your eyelids drooping,
Heavy with the desire to sleep.
How that felt in your body.
Perhaps you were moving slowly.
Perhaps you were breathing deeply.
Perhaps your body was longing to release into the comfort of your bed.
Calling those sensations into the present moment.
Finding a point in your body that feels the most comfortable.
Remembering what it feels like to be comfortable.
What is the felt sense of comfort?
When I explore this for myself,
Comfort feels like a softening,
An effortless,
Easy feeling.
And sometimes comfort feels heavy,
Drawn down to the earth by gravity.
Yet other times,
Comfort feels soft and floating,
As if I could tuck into a cloud,
Drift on a gentle breeze.
Taking a few more breaths to explore what comfort feels like in your own body,
Even if it's in just one small place.
Now,
As I guide the second body scan,
I'd like you to bring that sense of comfort around the body and sense or visualize the somatic feeling of comfort expanding throughout the body.
So perhaps that feels like warmth,
Or heaviness,
Or a light floating sensation.
And as I name the body part,
I want you to imagine comfort flowing in,
Filling this point in your body,
Beginning at the crown of the head,
Welcoming this sense of comfort to flow across the scalp,
The center of the back of the head becoming soft and heavy,
The center of the forehead,
Overflowing this felt sense of comfort,
Smoothing across the brow,
Tracing the right eyebrow,
The right side of the temple,
The right side of the cheek,
The right ear,
The right side of the jaw,
Welcoming that sense of comfort.
Softening,
Outlining the upper and lower lips,
Noticing sensation of the root of the tongue,
Softening,
Dropping the tongue to the bottom of the mouth,
And tracing the left eyebrow,
The left side of the temple,
The left side of the cheek,
The left ear,
The left side of the jaw,
Bringing this sense of comfort along the back of the neck,
The sides of the throat,
The base of the throat,
The center of the chest,
The right shoulder,
The right elbow,
The right wrist,
The right hand,
Welcoming that sense of comfort,
That bone-deep tiredness to infuse the entire right arm,
And back to the center of the chest,
Softening through the heart center,
Bringing this felt sense of comfort to the left shoulder,
The left elbow,
The left wrist,
The whole left hand,
Welcoming this sense of comfort,
This felt sense of relaxation to permeate the entire left arm,
Expanding down through the torso,
The lungs,
The belly,
All of the vital organs,
Down into the hips,
The right hip,
The right knee,
The right ankle,
All the way to the tips of the toes,
The big toe,
Tip of the second toe,
Tip of the third toe,
Tip of the fourth toe,
And tip of the little toe,
And from the tip of the toes,
Through the feet,
All the way to the right hip,
The whole right leg,
Infused with this felt sense of comfort,
And drawing it to the left hip,
The left knee,
The left ankle,
All the way to the tips of the toes,
The tip of the big toe,
Tip of the second toe,
Tip of the third toe,
Tip of the fourth toe,
And tip of the little toe,
From the tip of the toes,
Through the leg,
The whole left leg,
Settling into a deep rest.
Bringing this sense of comfort to the tip of the tailbone,
The low back,
The mid back,
The upper back,
The shoulder blades,
Sensing the connection between the tail and the top of the head,
Perhaps sensing,
Perhaps visualizing this sense of comfort,
Saturating the whole body,
The whole body,
Softening deeper into stillness,
Remembering this sense,
This desire to sleep,
And allowing your conscious mind to begin dissolving with each breath,
Sinking deeper into yourself,
Drifting further into sleep,
Inhale 10,
Exhale 10,
Exhale 9,
6,
Releasing the count,
Letting your natural breath flow in,
Dissolving into sleep,
