This is a guided body scan meditation.
Coming to lay down on your back on a thick rug or a mat on the floor or on a bed.
Making yourself comfortable.
If it feels okay,
Bringing the hands to lay down by your side,
Palms faced up.
And either allowing the legs to be straight uncrossed or stepping the feet onto the floor and letting the knees knock together.
Closing the eyes if that feels comfortable.
Bringing your awareness to your body as a whole,
Lying here.
Feeling a sense of where your body is making contact with what's beneath you.
And reminding yourself that during this practice we're not trying to get anywhere or achieve a special state.
We're not even trying to relax.
We're simply being with each part of the body in turn.
Feeling that part of the body.
And letting go of wanting things to be a certain way.
And then judging how you're doing.
When the mind wanders away,
As it will do,
Knowing this isn't a problem,
This is part of the meditation.
Acknowledging wherever your mind went and kindly yet firmly returning your attention back to the sensations of the body again and again without giving yourself a hard time.
So now,
Bringing your awareness to the breath at your belly.
Perhaps placing a hand on your belly to feel the movement of your breathing in this region.
Noticing the gentle expansion of the abdomen wall and the lowering and contracting with each breath.
Knowing that the breath is the most important breath and the body as a whole are always here if you need to come back to them during the practice.
Now gathering your awareness and moving it down into both feet and ankles.
Noticing what sensations are here for you right now.
Perhaps tingling.
Sensations of socks on your skin or the air on your skin.
Or maybe temperature coolness or warmth.
Or maybe you don't feel anything at all here.
Or very subtle sensations.
Knowing this is okay.
Simply noticing that.
And not trying to make sensations happen.
But simply being with whatever's here for you right now.
And now taking a slightly deeper breath.
And as you breathe out,
Releasing the feet and ankles from your awareness and moving up to feel the lower legs.
What's here?
Perhaps getting a sense of the calf muscle at the back.
Or the shin bone in front.
Knowing that whenever you realise your mind's wandered off to thinking,
Planning,
Daydreams,
Worries,
Whatever.
Simply acknowledging where the mind has been and kindly yet firmly bringing the attention back to the part of the body that we're focusing on.
Without giving yourself a hard time or judging yourself.
Coming back to the lower legs.
Now taking a slightly deeper breath again.
And as you breathe out,
Releasing the lower legs and moving to your knees.
Noticing what sensations are in your knees right now.
Feeling the knees rather than thinking about the knees.
The soft back of the knee.
Or perhaps the sense of the bony front,
The kneecap.
Or maybe right inside your knees.
What's here?
Taking a slightly deeper breath and as you breathe out,
Moving your awareness up to the thighs.
Probing the thighs with your attention.
The skin of the thighs.
Right inside the muscle.
Now on a slightly deeper breath,
Playing with imagining that your breath could travel all the way past the lungs.
Right down to fill both legs and feet.
And as you breathe out,
The breath leaving the legs and all the way out through the mouth or nose.
Just playing with this sensation for a few breaths.
And then on an exhale,
Letting go of the legs and moving to the area of the hips,
The pelvis.
Noticing any and all sensations here.
Knowing that if at any point the sensations become overwhelming or too strong,
You could return to feeling your breath or the body as a whole or doing whatever feels right for you.
Taking a slightly deeper breath and as you breathe out,
Moving your attention to feel the lower back,
Where your pelvis attaches to the spine.
An area that can hold tension and discomfort for many.
And if that's true for you,
Knowing that you can always come back to the breath of the body or if it feels okay,
Breathing with whatever's here,
Holding it with kind attention as best you can.
Noticing the flux and change of the sensations in this region,
Moment by moment.
Taking a slightly deeper breath and as you breathe out,
Expanding your awareness to take in the rest of the back,
Up through the spine,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Shoulder blades.
And expanding to feel the front of the body,
The chest.
Perhaps a sense of the ribs moving with your breath or the subtle beat of your heart.
Moving to feel the tummy.
Maybe again sensing the breath moving here.
And then taking a slightly deeper breath and imagining that the breath could fill the whole torso.
As you breathe out,
Releasing the torso from your awareness.
Now moving down into both hands.
What's here?
Perhaps tingles or pulsation.
Feeling of temperature,
Warmth or coolness.
Expanding your awareness to feel the wrists and the lower arms and the elbows.
What can you feel here?
And whenever you notice your mind has wandered,
Simply bringing it back again and again.
Even if the mind feels like it's wandered a thousand times,
The task is always simply the same.
Acknowledging where the mind has been and without giving yourself a hard time,
Bringing the awareness back to the sensations of the body again and again and again.
Now feeling your upper arms.
And taking a slightly deeper breath in and imagining your breath could fill the hands and arms.
As you breathe out,
Releasing hands and arms from your awareness.
Noticing to the shoulders and the neck.
Noticing what sensations are here,
Feeling them from the inside.
Taking a slightly deeper breath again and then releasing neck and shoulders and moving to feel your face.
Sensing the lips,
The cheeks,
The nose.
Perhaps feeling where the air is coming in and out of the nostrils.
Feeling your eyes,
The eyebrows in between the eyebrows and the forehead.
And expanding your awareness to feel the whole of your head,
The scalp,
The ears,
The face,
Inside the head,
The brain.
And as you breathe in,
Perhaps imagining your breath could fill the whole head,
Refreshing and renewing with each breath.
And now expanding your awareness to take in the whole body,
The head,
Shoulders,
Neck,
Arms and hands,
Torso,
Hips,
Legs and feet.
And if it feels right for you,
Playing with imagining your breath could fill the whole body as you breathe in.
And leave the body as you breathe out.
Breathing with a sense of your whole body lying here,
Just as it is.
Perhaps a sense of coming home to the body,
Whole and complete.
As the practice comes to an end,
Taking care as you make the transition into the rest of your day.
And knowing that you can bring your awareness to a sense of the body or the breath at any point throughout the day to anchor yourself back to the present moment.
