Body Scan Guided Meditation
by Kathy Ward
This practice asks that as best we can, we pay attention to all the different areas of the body one by one, not to what we think we should feel, but to whatever is already there. There is no need to elicit a sensation if there is none, instead we pay attention as if sensations were present, just as we can listen for a sound even if there is none. This moving to a part, staying awhile, and then letting go, tolerating or accepting is a practice. You might want to linger longer in pleasant areas but we move on. You may also find that you do not want to feel into an area of tension or pain. As best we can we stay with the sensations perhaps gently breathing into the area, knowing that if it is too overwhelming, we can anchor to our breath rolling in and rolling out, until perhaps, we feel able to return to the body scan. In this way we are retraining the nervous system to be open, curious, accepting and kind, rather than getting caught up in habitul ways of reacting to our pain.
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