Body Scan: Become Present With Yourself

This is a gentle and nurturing Body Scan led by Keith Horan. This practice is designed to help you become completely present in your own body, and with the moment you are currently in. It is easy to let our thoughts wander and stray in an unwanted manner. This practice will help alleviate stress as these negative thoughts disappate with the shift of our awareness to the here and now.

Transcript

This is a 30 minute body scan practice.

So the next 30 minutes are time just for you.

Time for you to be with yourself fully.

Trying to make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Choosing a warm,

Protected place to do the practice.

Trying to make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Choosing a warm,

Protected place to do the practice in.

And a time where you are unlikely to be interrupted.

Lying on a mat or a thick rug or sitting in a chair if that's more comfortable.

It can be nice to have a blanket to cover you and perhaps a thin cushion or folded blanket under your head if that helps to keep your neck and shoulders more relaxed.

If you're lying down you could lie flat on your back with your legs stretched out or you could lie with your feet on the floor and your knees bent.

Hands are alongside the body and palms are faced upwards if that's comfortable.

Your eyes can be gently closed for this practice.

It's also possible to leave your eyes open with a soft focus.

It's helpful to stay awake during the practice but if you do feel sleepy,

Which can happen,

It can be useful to open your eyes from time to time.

There's no need to work hard or try hard to relax in this practice.

In fact that can just introduce tension.

The main thing we're doing is just trying to accept what's happening in our experience from moment to moment.

Letting go of the tendency to want things to be different.

Just allowing things to be as they are.

Letting go of any judgement or self-criticism.

Just doing the practice as best you can.

There's no right way or wrong way to feel and there's no right way or wrong way to do this practice.

So then when you're ready,

Bringing your attention to your whole body,

Noticing all the places that your body is in contact with the chair or in contact with the floor.

Just focusing in on all those points.

The heels,

The backs of the legs,

The buttocks,

Anywhere on the back,

The shoulders,

The backs of the arms,

The back of your head.

Just being aware of all those places where your body is in contact with the ground or with the mat.

And noticing any sensations that you can notice.

Being aware of the weight at all these points.

And feeling like you're being supported by the mat.

And then moving your awareness to your breathing.

When you're lying down in particular,

It can be useful to focus on your breathing at your abdomen,

At the stomach.

So just noticing your breathing here.

Just following the in-breath and the out-breath.

You're not trying to change the breathing in any way.

You're just observing the breathing that's already happening.

Noticing the movement as you breathe in,

The rising of the stomach as you breathe in,

The falling of the stomach as you breathe out.

So just being with this cycle of breathing for a few moments.

And if at any stage during the practice your mind wanders,

Which it's likely to do,

Just try to firmly but kindly bring it back to the focus.

In this case,

Back to the awareness of your breathing.

Back to noticing the in-breath and the out-breath just as it is.

The breathing can be a very helpful anchor in this practice.

And in fact at any time during the day.

So if you feel that you're distracted or you feel uncomfortable at any stage in the guidance,

You always have the option of just returning to the breathing.

Just returning to focus on the in-breath and the out-breath.

And that can help make you feel a bit more grounded,

A bit more anchored.

And then when you're ready,

Beginning to move your awareness through the parts of the body.

Just following the guidance as best you can.

So bringing your awareness down your left leg and all the way down to your left foot.

And bringing it even further,

Bringing the awareness all the way down to the toes of the left foot and seeing what you can observe about the toes in your left foot.

Are there any sensations here?

Noticing the big toe,

The little toe,

The toes in between.

Perhaps noticing warmth or coolness,

Maybe a sense of touch with your socks or your shoes or the blanket.

Sometimes it's possible to notice pulsing or tingling.

Or if you can't notice any of these sensations,

Then just being aware of that.

Then moving the awareness to the sole of your left foot and the heel of the left foot,

The top of the left foot,

The left ankle.

Then being aware of all of your left foot.

And you can even imagine that you're breathing down into your left foot,

That on an in-breath you're bringing oxygen all the way down your left leg and all the way down to your left foot.

And then on your next out-breath,

Just letting go,

Letting go of this focus on your left foot and moving your awareness up your leg to your lower left leg,

The left calf and the left shin.

Just being aware of the lower left leg and seeing if there's anything to observe here.

Not so much thinking about this area,

But trying to directly feel it,

To directly sense it.

And then moving the attention up to your left knee,

Just seeing what you can sense at the left knee,

The bone within the knee,

The kneecap,

The skin on the outside of the knee.

And just noticing,

Just trying to directly feel into your left knee.

And then moving the awareness into the upper part of the left leg,

The left thigh,

The left hamstring,

And just observing sensations here.

Does this area feel light or heavy?

Or does it feel warm or cold?

And then becoming aware of all of your left leg,

And if you like breathing oxygen,

Breathing life down into the left leg,

And on the next out-breath,

Just letting go of it,

Letting it dissolve in your mind's eye,

And moving your awareness to the right leg,

And all the way down the right leg to the right foot,

And all the way down to the toes of the right foot.

And noticing any sensations here.

Even noticing individual toes,

Sensations in the big toe,

Or at the little toe,

Or any of the toes in between,

Or the sole of the right foot,

Or the right heel,

Or the top of the right foot and the right ankle.

And then noticing any sensations throughout the right foot.

And perhaps breathing down into the right foot,

And on the next out-breath,

Just letting go of it,

And moving your awareness to the right calf and the right shin.

Seeing how these areas feel.

And then moving the awareness to the right knee.

Just trying to be aware of your right knee right now.

And if at times during the practice you notice your mind wandering off,

Just seeing where does it go?

Perhaps noting what type of thoughts come up.

Whether it's a pattern of planning,

Or thinking into the future,

Or into the past.

And just noting the pattern,

And then inviting the mind to return back to the body.

In this case back to sensing into the right knee.

And then sensing into the upper part of the right leg,

The right thigh,

The right hamstring,

The whole upper part of your right leg.

And then breathing into the right leg,

And on your next out-breath,

Just letting go of it.

Just letting it dissolve in your mind's eye.

And moving your awareness to the whole area of the pelvis.

To the right hip,

And the left hip.

To the right buttock and left buttock,

And noticing the contact they have with the floor.

To the area of the genitals,

And to the whole area of the pelvis,

And noticing any sensations in this area.

And if you like imagining that you can breathe into this area.

And on the next out-breath,

Just letting go of it.

And bringing your mind to your lower back.

What can you notice about your lower back right now?

How does this area feel?

Is there any tension in this area,

Or does it feel relaxed?

And if you notice tension in any part of the body,

One option is to spend some time breathing into the area.

And then on the out-breath,

Just letting go of it,

Inviting it to relax just that little bit more.

So if you notice any tension in the lower back,

Perhaps this might be a nice thing to try.

And then noticing sensations in the mid-back area,

And then moving your awareness to your upper back,

And noticing any sensations here.

Perhaps this area is helping to support you on the floor,

So noticing that contact with the floor.

Just noticing any sensations in the area of your upper back.

And if your mind wanders at any point,

Again just gently bringing it back.

In this case,

Bringing it back to the awareness of your upper back,

And noticing the sensations here.

And then breathing into the whole area of the back.

And on the next out-breath,

Just letting go of your awareness of this area,

And moving towards the front of the body,

And to the area of the stomach,

The area of the abdomen.

And spending some time here,

Just noticing how this area feels.

Is there tension here,

Or does it feel relaxed?

What can you notice here?

How would you describe the sensations or the feelings in this area?

And perhaps reconnecting with the breathing while you're here.

Just noticing the rise of the abdomen on the in-breath,

And the fall of the abdomen on the out-breath.

Noticing your breathing just as it is,

Not trying to change anything,

Just bringing a curiosity to your own breathing.

And then moving your awareness up to the chest area,

And again noticing any sensations here.

Noticing the impact of the breathing on this region,

Maybe the more subtle movement in the chest area as you breathe in,

And as you breathe out.

And then breathing into the whole front of the body,

And on the next out-breath,

Letting go of it,

Letting it dissolve,

Moving your awareness to both of your arms.

And then moving your awareness all the way down your arms to both hands,

Becoming aware of the left hand and the right hand,

And noticing any sensations in your hands.

What can you notice here?

Is there any sense of warmth or coolness?

Can you notice the contact with the air or with the blanket?

Really bringing your attention to any sensations that you can notice in your hands.

And then moving the awareness to the lower arms,

And then becoming aware of both elbows and the upper arms,

And then noticing any sensations throughout your left arm and right arm.

And breathing into this area,

And on the next out-breath,

Just letting it go,

And moving the attention to the shoulders.

Seeing what you can observe in your shoulders right now,

What can you feel in this region?

Not so much thinking about the shoulders or thinking about how they are usually or in the past,

But just directly feeling how your shoulders are right now.

Are they relaxed or is there tension in the shoulders?

And this can be a region where we tend to carry tension.

And if you do notice that,

Just spending a little longer here.

And if you like,

You can imagine breathing into the shoulders and on the out-breath,

Just letting go of the shoulders a little bit,

Inviting them to relax just that little bit.

And again,

In your own time,

Breathing into the shoulders and on the out-breath,

Just letting go that little bit more.

And perhaps a final time in your own pace,

Breathing into the shoulders and on the out-breath,

Just letting go of them,

Letting them dissolve from your attention,

And moving the awareness to the area of the neck.

And just noticing any sensations in your neck,

Perhaps noticing the sensations as the air moves down and back,

Down and up through this region.

And then moving your awareness further up to your jaw and seeing how this region feels.

And becoming aware of the mouth,

The whole area of the mouth,

The lower lip and the upper lip,

The inside of the mouth,

The tongue and the teeth.

And then the area of the nose and the right cheek and the left cheek.

And becoming aware of your eyes,

Just noticing any sensations in your eyes,

And just inviting your eyes to just rest.

And becoming aware of the eyebrows and then the forehead.

Just checking where your attention is right now.

And if the mind is getting caught up in thoughts,

Just accepting that's what tends to happen.

There's no need to be critical or judgmental about it.

That's just what your experience is right now.

And then once you notice where your mind is,

Just invite it back to the practice,

Back to the body scan,

And right now back to noticing any sensations in your forehead.

Just bringing some curiosity to this area.

How does this area feel?

And becoming aware of the right side of the head and the right ear and the left side of the head and the left ear and the back of the head.

Maybe noticing that sense of contact that the back of your head has with the mat.

And becoming aware of the top of your head,

The crown of your head.

Noticing any sensations at the top of your head.

And then being aware of the whole of your face and the whole of your head.

And the face tends to have to work so hard during the day,

Making so many movements and expressions.

And for now just letting it rest,

Just letting it be.

And observing how it feels.

How does your face and your head feel right now?

And then becoming aware of the whole body.

The head,

The face,

The back,

The chest and the abdomen,

The pelvis area,

The arms,

The legs,

All the way down to the feet.

Aware of the whole body.

The whole body just lying here or sitting here.

It's possible to imagine breathing into the whole body.

So if you feel like doing that,

You could imagine that you can breathe in through the top of the head and the air sweeps down through the body.

And imagining that you can breathe it out through the soles of your feet.

And then breathing in through the soles of the feet and the air sweeps up through the parts of the body.

And breathing out through the top of your head.

And if it feels right,

You could just continue this type of breathing for a few moments.

So breathing in through the top of the head and down through the body and out through the feet.

Breathing in through the feet,

Up through the body and out through the top of the head.

And just continuing to spend a few moments breathing like this if it feels right for you.

The whole body breathing.

Just this breathing in through the top of the head and down through the body and out through the soles of the feet.

And in through the feet then up through the body and out through the top of the head.

And then when you're ready,

Letting go of this type of breathing and just being aware of the whole body.

The whole body resting here.

And becoming aware again of the points of contact with the ground or with the mat.

So maybe the heels or the soles of the feet,

The legs,

The buttocks,

Noticing the back,

The shoulders,

Maybe parts of the arms and hands,

The back of the neck,

The back of the head.

Just being aware of your whole body lying here,

Your whole body resting.

And noticing the breathing again at the stomach.

Throughout the whole practice this breathing has been continuing.

But just bringing it to your attention again for a moment.

Noticing the rise of the stomach,

The rise of the belly on the in-breath and the fall on the out-breath.

Lying here in a state of stillness,

A state of wholeness.

And then as you begin to move out of the practice,

Perhaps beginning to gently move the fingers and the toes and gradually introducing more movement to the body.

And really slowly coming out of the practice.

And you may want to congratulate yourself just for doing the practice,

Simply for making this time to look after yourself.

And then as you begin to introduce more movement,

Coming fully out of the practice and taking this sense of balance and wellbeing into the next part of your day.

Reviews

✨🙏🏻

Did this during a red light therapy treatment, I’ve never felt so listened to by myself. Thank you✨

Great, thank you. Lovely voice, good pace. 🙏🏽

Very good thank you 💕

Excellent. Felt refreshed. Will return. Thanks 🕊

Excellent body scan. Will return to it often.

Thank you, great body scan 🙏

Excellent meditation. Already bookmarked 😀

Thanks, was great

Thanks Keith, a great start to the day