Kabat-Zinn Body Scan Narration

This 44-minute long body scan meditation provides a fresh narration of Jon Kabat-Zinn's pioneering work in secular mindfulness. Low, ethereal whooshing grounds the listener in a timeless place, as we systematically bring our attention to each part of the body.

Transcript

It is best if you can manage to stay awake throughout the duration of the guided body scan.

It is designed to help you enter and dwell in a state of very deep mental and physical relaxation.

See if you can allow it to be a nourishing time,

A time you deserve to give yourself some positive energy and attention.

A time to open to the sources of strength and healing within yourself.

Please don't try too hard to relax.

This will just create tension.

What we will be doing is just becoming aware in each passing moment and just accepting what is happening in yourself,

Looking at it clearly and seeing it as it is because it is already here.

It's part of your experience in the moment,

For better or for worse.

Let go of the tendency we have to want things to be different from how they are right now and allow things to be exactly as you find them.

Allow yourself to be exactly as you are.

Use the instructions for guidance as best you can,

Watching your body and the activity of your mind as we go along.

Letting go of judgmental and critical thoughts in particular and just doing what the instructions say to do as best you can.

And being aware of how you feel about what is happening.

Remember that there is no right way to feel as you are doing this.

The way you are feeling is the way you are feeling right now.

Just accepting it and giving yourself permission to feel what you are feeling and seeing that it is okay,

No matter what.

Let the arms lie alongside your body,

Palms open to the ceiling if that feels comfortable.

Allowing the feet to fall away from each other.

And notice if you could be 5 or 10% more comfortable.

And slowly bringing your attention to the fact that you are breathing.

Not manipulating the breath in any way,

Simply experiencing it as the air moves in and out of your body and directing your attention in particular to your abdomen.

And feeling the sensations in that region.

As the breath comes into your body and the abdomen expands gently and as your breath moves out of your body and the belly deflates.

And just following with your mind's eye the rhythmic movements of your belly with each breath.

The rising of the belly on the in-breath and the falling of the belly on the out-breath.

And on each out-breath just letting go.

Letting your body become heavy as it sinks deeper into the earth.

Just full attention in each moment to your breathing,

The in-breath following the out-breath,

Following rhythmically one and then the other.

As the body sinks with every out-breath into the ground as you let go.

Now when you feel ready to let's shift the focus of our attention to the toes of the left foot.

Just taking your mind and moving it away from your belly down the left leg all the way to the foot and all the way out to your toes.

And just becoming aware of whatever feelings are in this region of your body.

There may be sensations of tingling or moisture,

Of itching,

Of warmth,

Whatever they are,

It's not important but just feeling your toes as they are.

And if you find that you are registering a blank when you tune into this region then just experience not experiencing it.

Feeling what's there even if it's nothing.

And just breathing with these sensations,

Experiencing the big toe and if you can the little toe,

Not moving them but just feeling them individually.

And perhaps the toes in between.

And as you breathe in just imagining that the breath is moving right now down through the lungs,

Through the belly,

Down the left leg,

All the way to your toes.

And as you breathe out that the breath is just moving back up from your toes and out your nose so that you are breathing in down to your toes and breathing out from your toes.

And when you are ready just on the out breath letting go of your toes completely allowing this region of your body to just dissolve in your mind's eye.

Moving your attention and bringing it to focus on the bottom of your left foot.

And whatever feelings there are in this particular region,

Breathing with it,

Feeling the bottom of your foot.

And when you are ready breathing down the leg to the bottom of your foot and on the out breath breathing out from the bottom of your foot and just letting go.

And coming to focus on the heel and the place where the heel is making contact with the ground.

And just feeling the sense of touch and pressure.

And when you are ready breathing into the heel and on the out breath just letting go of your heel.

Becoming aware of the top of your left foot.

And whatever feelings or lack of feelings there are from this particular region.

You're not so much thinking about your foot as just being here with it.

Letting it,

Letting it predominate in the field of your awareness.

Breathing with your foot and letting that awareness spread to the ankle as well.

And feeling your own left ankle.

Breathing with it.

And when you're ready breathing,

Directing the breath down to the ankle and on the out breath just letting go of the ankle and the entirety of your left foot.

As you relax into a deeper state of stillness and awareness.

And become aware of the left lower leg.

The shin in front and the calf muscle in the back.

And any sensations,

Feelings in your lower left leg.

And not just on the surface but deeper as well.

Right down to the bones in the lower leg.

Experiencing this region as it is.

Not trying to make it be any different.

Just accepting the feelings that you feel.

Breathing with them.

And when you're ready just letting go of this part of your body as well.

As you relax and sink even deeper into the ground as you let go.

And letting the focus now move up to your knee.

Feeling your knee,

The kneecap,

The sides and back of the knee deep into the joint.

Just experiencing your left knee.

Breathing with it.

And on the out breath just letting it dissolve as well.

And moving now into the region of the thigh above the knee.

On the surface and deeper.

All the way up to the groin on the inside and the hip on the outside.

And just experiencing your left thigh.

Letting it be as soft and relaxed as possible.

If there's any tension in the thigh or anywhere else when you come to it.

Just allowing it to exit on each out breath.

Letting the thigh to be soft and relaxed.

Breathing with your thigh.

And when you're ready taking a deeper breath down deep into the thigh.

And as you breathe out just letting it dissolve.

Relax and soften.

Letting go.

And now we'll move over to the right leg and become aware of the feelings in the right toes.

The toes of the right foot.

And without wiggling them just feeling the sensations.

The big toe and the little toe.

And the others.

Breathing.

Directing the in-breaths down into the foot.

And right to the toes.

And on the out breath just letting the breath come up from the toes and right out through your nose.

Breathing in down into the foot.

And breathing out up from the toes out through your nose.

Not judging them or worrying about what your toes should feel like.

Just allowing them to be exactly as you're experiencing them now.

And when you're ready taking a deeper breath in down into the toes.

And on the out breath just letting your toes dissolve in the feel of your awareness and letting your attention shift onto the bottom of your right foot.

And this time including the heel and the place where the foot makes contact with the ground.

Just tuning into any and all sensations in this part of your body.

Breathing with them.

And when you're ready on an out breath just letting go of the bottom of your foot as you relax as you let go of this region.

And let the attention gently move to the top of the foot and to the ankle.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Feeling this region of your body.

And when you're ready just letting it go.

Letting it relax and soften and dissolve in your mind's eye as you become aware of the lower leg.

That region of the body like most others that we don't pay much attention to and take for granted.

Now just feeling this extremely important part of your body as it is.

Appreciating it perhaps.

And as you breathe out just letting go of it as well.

And become aware of your right knee.

Breathing down into the knee.

And on the out breath letting go of the knee as well.

And now the right thigh.

The entire region of the upper leg.

Between the hip and pelvis and groin all the way to the knee.

Feeling your right thigh and any sensations at all.

Being as precise as you can about seeing and feeling these sensations.

Whether they be sensations of warmth,

Of tingling,

Of heaviness or lightness,

Blood flow.

And just sensing,

Feeling your thigh as it is.

Breathing out any tension here.

Allowing it to soften.

And when you're ready breathing into the thigh and as you breathe out just letting go of this region as well.

And becoming aware now of the pelvis.

The entire region of your pelvis.

From one hip to the other,

Aware of the buttocks in contact with the ground.

And the sensations of contact and of weight or perhaps of heaviness or whatever you're feeling.

Being aware of the hips themselves.

And just breathing with the entirety of your pelvis.

And when you're ready letting it go with every out breath.

As you sink even deeper into a state of relaxed awareness and stillness.

Totally present in each moment.

Content to just be and to just be right here as you are right now.

And let's direct our attention now to the lower back.

To that region that connects with the pelvis.

And just experiencing whatever sensations are here.

This is of course a region that for many of us sometimes gives us problems.

And there may be sensations of some intensity.

And just for the moment experiencing your back as it is without judging.

Without needing to change it.

Letting the breath really move into every region of your lower back on the in breath.

And on the out breath letting any tension and tightness,

Any holding on or intensity.

And letting the breath really move into every region of your lower back on the in breath.

And on the out breath letting any tension and tightness,

Any holding on or intensity.

Just flow out with the out breath to the extent that it will.

And the next time you breathe out just letting go of the lower back.

And moving up into the region of the upper back.

And just feeling the sensations in this region,

Breathing with them.

You may even feel your rib cage in the back as well as in the front.

Expanding on the in breath.

The ribs being in back as well as in front coming all the way around to the spine.

And any tension and tightness or reservoirs of fatigue or discomfort in the upper back region or central back region.

Just letting them dissolve and move out with the out breath as you let go and sink even deeper into stillness and relaxation.

And allowing your attention to shift to the belly again,

Experiencing the rising and falling of your belly as you breathe.

And just allowing the awareness to expand from the belly and the front of your body to the chest as well.

Feeling the movements of your diaphragm,

That umbrella like muscle that separates your belly from your chest,

Your heart and your lungs.

And just for a moment experiencing the chest as it expands on the in breath and contract somewhat on the out breath.

And if you can,

Tune into the rhythmic beating of your heart within your chest.

Feeling it if you can as well as the lungs expanding on either side of your heart.

Nourishing every region,

Every organ,

Every tissue of your body with oxygenated blood each time the heart pumps blood through the body.

And as the blood returns to the heart,

Giving off the waste products of metabolism and purifying the body in a rhythmic cycle of renewed energy and continuous detoxification,

Purification on the out breath.

And this happens with every breath,

Every beat of our hearts.

Just experiencing your chest and your belly as you lie here.

With the muscles on the chest wall,

The entirety of the front of your body.

And when you're ready,

On an out breath,

Just letting this region dissolve into relaxation as well.

Just allowing your attention to move to your fingertips.

And we'll do both hands together,

Just becoming aware of the sensations in the tips of your fingers and thumbs.

You might feel some pulsations from the blood flow.

You may feel a dampness or warmth or whatever.

Just feeling your fingers,

The insides of them and the backs of your fingers right out to the tips.

And letting the field of your awareness to expand and include the palms of your hands and the backs of your hands.

And now the wrists.

And here again perhaps picking up the pulsations of the arteries in the wrists as the blood flows to and from your hands.

Becoming aware as well of the forearms and the elbows.

Be in all sensations regardless of tingling,

Discomfort or problems with one region or another.

Just experiencing your body as it is and in particular now your arms.

Letting your field of awareness to now include the upper arms right up to the armpits and shoulders.

The shoulders are a reservoir of tension for many of us,

Accumulated tension.

Often the cause of some pain and perhaps neck problems.

During the day stresses often wind up creating this tension in our shoulders,

Neck.

But at this moment try and experience your shoulders without judging,

Without a story of any kind.

And if there is any tension just on the in-breath breathing into your shoulders and out from your shoulders out through your arms all the way out through your feet.

Breathing into your shoulders up into your arms and on the out-breath just letting that tension dissolve as you breathe out.

Letting go of the tension and letting go of your arms all the way up from the fingertips to the shoulders themselves as you sink even deeper into a state of relaxed observation and awareness.

Just being present in each moment.

Letting go of whatever thoughts come up or whatever impulses to move or to do something else and just experiencing yourself in this moment.

And now let's let the focus of our attention move on to the neck.

To the back of the neck and the spine and the neck region and to the throat.

And feeling the entirety of this region of your body.

Experiencing perhaps what it feels like when you swallow and when you breathe as the air goes from the head to the chest through the neck region.

Breathing in down into the neck intentionally and on the out-breath just letting go of the neck as well.

Feeling it relax and dissolve in your mind's eye and becoming aware of your face.

Another region that often stores accumulated tension over the course of the day.

And let's focus first on the jaw and the chin.

Just experiencing them as they are.

Any sensations right up in the hinge region of the jaw.

Deeper.

Breathing with this region.

And on the out-breath when you're ready just letting it dissolve as well.

Becoming aware of your lips and your mouth.

The teeth and the gums.

Your tongue and the roof of your mouth.

And allowing your tongue to soften.

Breathing a relaxed tongue.

And the back of the mouth and the throat.

And just breathing with this region.

And the sensations,

The feelings of your mouth and lips and cheeks.

And on an out-breath just letting this region dissolve as well.

And becoming aware of your nose.

And now feeling the breath as it moves in and out at the nostrils.

Just being aware of yourself as the breathing goes on.

And becoming aware of your eyes and the eyebrows.

And the space between the eyebrows.

Allowing them to be relaxed.

And the entire region around your eyes.

The eyelids.

And often there's tension in this region around our eyes as well.

And if there's any tension on the out-breath,

Allowing it to leave.

And when you're ready,

Just feeling your body as a whole.

From the top of your head to the bottoms of your feet.

Lying here in a state of stillness and deep relaxation.

And thinking deeper and deeper into a state of well-being.

As we come in touch with feeling complete.

Feeling whole as we are.

In touch with our essential completeness.

A realm in which our limitations are not confining.

A realm of oneness.

A realm of silence.

Of stillness.

Of peace.

Open to things just as they are in each moment.

And seeing that this attitude and this stillness itself is healing.

And allowing the world to be as it is.

Beyond our personal fears and concerns.

Beyond the tendencies of the mind to want everything to be a certain way.

And just seeing ourselves as complete right now as we are.

Looking and experiencing deeply the fullness of our lives and the limitless quality of life.

Experiencing the fullness of our ability to love and to care.

Experiencing ourselves just as we are in this present moment.

Reviews

Absolutely perfection. Your beautiful calming and peaceful voice made it the best and such a thorough scan. All my thanks Kevin.

Lovely experience restful while engaging. I'll listen again.

Lovely and relaxing, thanks so much 🙏🏻😊

Great voice. No unnecessary intro.

So deeply unifying and soothing 🙏🙏🙏 Thank you 🙏🙏🙏

Very relaxing. Thank you.

Most excellent. A keeper and a meditation to share with my friends.

Oh wow! Possibly the most relaxing meditation I’ve ever done!! Thank you 🙏💕

Wonder filled 🙏🏼 thank you

Great voice. Limited, appropriate well produced music.

This was great. I got so relaxed I nearly fell asleep a few times, but he takes you around the body so gently

This was absolutely perfect. I love Kabot-Zinns body scan meditation, But I don't love his narration. I have been looking for THIS version for so long. Thank you!! 🙏💙

Amazing. I'm not sure if I have ever been so relaxed or so aware of my body. I am using this for myself but my kids are also enjoying it. Great job.