Guided body scans are a great way to help you find a moment to rest during your day.
They can be used to restore your energy,
To allow yourself to relax,
Or even to help induce sleep.
If that's your goal for today's practice,
Then allow yourself to find a comfortable position laying down.
However,
This practice can also be used to help cultivate a better awareness of the body,
To allow you to tune into subtle sensations,
To become more aware of what's happening with the emotional body,
To be more in touch with your intuition.
If you'd like to work on cultivating that alert awareness,
You may want to find a comfortable seated position for the practice.
There will be a bell at the end to signal the end of the practice.
It will take a couple moments to get comfortable,
To feel at ease.
Allow yourself to make any adjustments so that you feel that you can be still in the position you've chosen.
We're going to start by bringing ourselves into this moment,
Just as it is.
And to help us arrive in this moment,
We can take three deep breaths.
And on the exhale,
Feel as if we're letting go,
Softening the body,
Taking a deep breath in,
And a feeling of release as we exhale.
Allowing yourself now to simply feel the body in this moment.
Let it be just as it is.
With each breath,
We arrive more fully in this present moment,
Allowing ourselves to be here without any demands,
Without expectations,
Without any goal in particular.
You can feel as if on the exhale,
You're releasing expectations for the practice,
Releasing any goal.
Simply feeling a sense of watching and listening to the body in this moment.
Start to bring your attention to your forehead.
Notice any sensations here.
It might be that there's not a particular sensation that stands out,
And that too is okay.
Allow that to be.
No need to change it.
Take your attention to the brow.
Let the brow be soft,
Relaxed.
Notice the corners of the eyes and the eyelids.
Allow yourself to release and soften around the eyes.
Let the face be relaxed.
Let the cheeks and jaw be soft.
Giving ourselves space to simply feel the body just as it is.
Starting to bring your attention to the mouth.
Notice the corners of the mouth.
Notice where the lips are gently pressed together.
Notice any sensations in the lips or the mouth.
Allowing ourselves to release over and over again into the here and now,
Into feeling the body.
Starting to gently move the attention down to the neck and the shoulders.
Let the shoulders relax.
They fall into gravity,
Softening naturally.
Notice the collarbones.
Maybe you notice the temperature,
The contact of clothing on your skin,
The vibration.
All is okay.
All is welcome.
Feel what's there.
Open yourself up to the sensations that arise.
When the attention is open and lucid,
We give space for sensations to arise,
Allowing them to be.
And we can start to notice the chest.
Feel the breath gently rise and fall on the chest.
What in this moment calls our attention?
Feel it.
Open yourself up to it.
Releasing into the here and now.
Opening up to the present without demands.
Just noticing the chest.
Notice the stomach.
Noticing the breath move in this part of the body.
And we'll start to move our attention to our arms.
Scanning gradually from the shoulders down the length of the arms,
All the way down to the hands.
Feeling the sensations that are here.
Receiving whatever's here.
Noting what's not here.
Not worrying if we don't feel anything in particular.
If everything feels a bit neutral.
This too is welcome.
Start to notice the hand.
Maybe you can notice your pulse.
The temperature on your skin.
Notice sensations in the palms.
Allowing the tension to glide back up the length of the arms.
Arriving at the shoulders.
And starting to move the attention now to the back of the body,
The backs of the shoulders.
Feel the space between the shoulder blades.
Noticing anything that's here in this area.
Starting to scan the attention gently down the spine.
Feel your back.
Notice if any sensation stands out.
Opening yourself up to whatever's there.
Allowing yourself to feel.
Connecting with this area.
If we notice that we've gotten distracted following a train of thoughts,
It's okay.
In that moment when we notice that we've moved away from feeling the body,
Just gently,
Patiently.
And with a certain sense of kindness,
Choose to release the train of thoughts and reconnect with the feeling of the body.
Noticing the back,
The low back.
Start to notice the hips and the pelvis.
Take your attention to this area.
Notice where the bottom is connected with the surface you're resting on.
Opening up to any sensations.
Connecting with them.
Feeling them.
Now moving the attention gradually from the hips.
Starting to release through the thighs.
Scanning down the legs.
Noticing any feeling in the knees.
Continuing to move the attention down the lower legs.
Feeling the calves,
The ankles.
Feel the soles of the feet.
And the tops of the feet.
Notice any sensation in the feet.
Tingling or numbness.
We can allow space for these feelings to simply be opening ourselves up to the sensation.
Releasing ourselves over and over again into this moment.
Now we'll take our attention to the whole body.
Feel your whole body.
We can feel grateful for our bodies,
For our health.
Inviting in a sense of appreciation with the next breath in for the miracle that is your body.
Feeling appreciation for the health that we have in this moment.
Let your attention be drawn to the breath.
Feel the body breathe.
Let the breath flow.
If the breath changes,
Becomes deeper or more shallow.
If it quickens or slows,
We allow it to change.
No need to control it.
The body knows how to breathe.
Notice the belly.
Notice how the belly moves with the breath.
And if we notice that we've gotten distracted,
That's okay.
We can always start over again in this moment with this breath.
Feeling the body breathe.
Using the breath as our anchor to bring us back to this present moment.
Letting go of everything else.
What a pleasure it is to not have to manipulate,
Change,
Or solve any situation simply observing the flow of the breath.
And if we notice a struggle,
The mind interrupting our attention.
Have patience.
Over and over again with kindness.
Return to the body.
Feel it breathe.
Notice the belly move gently with the breath.
Relaxed attention.
Simple and natural.
Lucid and alert.
Feeling the movement of the stomach without demands.
As if we're simply listening to the body.
Giving it space to express itself as it needs.
May all beings be at peace.
May they be happy.
May they be free from suffering.
