Welcome to the body scan.
The body scan is a mindfulness practice where we go through the entire body one area at a time.
You can lie down,
Sit on the floor,
Or in a chair.
If you choose to lie down,
Be sure to use supports if needed,
Perhaps under the neck,
Knees,
Or lower back.
Your position should support feelings of comfort and awareness.
Same principles for sitting.
Support your body as needed to be comfortable and aware for the next period of time.
You may close your eyes or simply lower your gaze.
Take this time to find your position for the body scan.
The intention of the body scan is to be present with the body without striving or judgment.
Of course it's nice to relax and it's wonderful if that happens,
But relaxation is not the goal.
We simply experience what there is to experience at this time.
The idea is to turn inward,
To be still,
And be gently conscious of what it is to inhabit your body.
You may notice areas of the body where you feel nothing at all.
This is normal and okay.
Just focus consciousness as if you could feel something.
Let's begin.
Start with the feet.
Direct your consciousness to both feet as if you are shining a light on them.
Notice where your feet are touching the ground.
Can you feel your toes?
Perhaps as a group,
Perhaps as individuals?
You may feel tingling,
Coolness,
The feeling of fabric or socks against your feet,
Or you may feel nothing at all.
Now moving the attention to your ankles and lower legs.
What is here that you can experience?
Perhaps a feeling of pressure on your calves,
Or a sensation of fabric against your shins.
And if you notice that your attention is suddenly somewhere else,
Just gently and without judging,
Return it to your legs.
It's not a problem at all.
The mind likes to wander.
Perhaps you can imagine that you are breathing into your lower legs,
As if your attention could ride on the breath.
Or imagine a light shining on your lower legs,
The light of your consciousness.
And now letting go of the lower legs and moving the attention to your knees and thighs.
What is here?
Again,
Maybe pressure,
Temperature,
The position of your legs,
Or perhaps nothing at all.
Numbness counts as a sensation in the body scan practice.
Thinking about an area of the body or picturing it in your mind's eye is different from actually feeling in that part of the body.
What are you feeling,
Sensing right now in the knees and thighs?
And now letting go of the knees and thighs and moving the attention to the lower trunk,
The pelvis,
And the belly area up to the belly button.
What sensations are you experiencing here?
You may feel the rise and fall of the breath in this part of the belly,
Or you may not.
Do you have sensations of digestion or perhaps a full bladder?
And now letting go of the lower trunk and moving your consciousness to the upper trunk,
The stomach area,
The chest,
And feeling the sensations of the breath,
Each inhalation,
Each exhalation.
Do you have a sensation of the heart beating within the chest?
You may or you may not.
Both are fine.
And now shifting the attention to the back,
To the spine,
As it rests on the floor or perhaps the back of the chair.
What sensations are here?
And from here,
Now moving the attention to your hands,
Feeling into your hands.
You may notice how well you can feel your hands even without seeing them.
Do you have a sense of your thumbs,
Index fingers,
Middle fingers,
Ring fingers,
Or little fingers?
Feel the position of your hands in space,
The fingers,
The backs of the hands,
The palms of the hands.
And when you are ready,
Shift your attention to your wrists and forearms.
What is here to feel?
Warmth,
Coolness,
Fabric,
Pressure,
Or perhaps nothing at all?
And now move your attention to your elbows and upper arms,
Noticing any sensations here.
And if your mind wanders,
Just bring it back to wherever we are,
Just starting again.
No judgment,
No striving.
What sensations are available in your elbows and upper arms?
And from here,
Moving the attention to your shoulders,
The back of your neck.
Feel how the shoulders and back of the neck are connected.
Does the right side feel like the left?
And now moving to the head,
Shift your consciousness to your jaw and where the jaw joins,
Right under the ears.
What is to be experienced here?
And now to the face.
What does your face feel like as a whole?
Can you experience your face from the inside out?
Feel your lips,
Teeth,
Tongue.
How is your tongue resting in your mouth?
Are your teeth parted?
And now onto the nose.
Notice the feeling of your nose from the inside out.
And the breath moving in and out of the nostrils.
Is air moving equally in the right and left nostril,
Or is one nostril moving more air than the other?
Is the exhaled air perhaps warmer than the inhaled air?
And when you're ready,
Feel your eyes in their sockets resting.
Do the eyes feel soft or hard?
Where the eyelids meet,
Does one eye feel different from the other,
Or are they both pretty much the same?
And now shifting attention to the forehead,
The scalp,
The ears,
And the head as a whole.
Again,
A sense of the face from the inside out,
And the head resting and conscious where it is at this moment in time.
In this world where we think too much,
Sometimes we unconsciously separate our heads from the rest of the body.
Take this moment to integrate your head,
Your brain,
With the rest of the body.
Neck,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Chest,
Belly,
Thighs,
Lower legs,
And feet.
Feel the life in your body at this moment,
Breathing and alive.
And if you like,
Imagine breathing from the crown of your head all the way down into your toes and up and out again,
Noticing all the sensations of the body and allowing them to be just as they are in this moment.
And when you are ready,
Allow movement to return to the body,
Like wiggling your fingers and toes,
Stretching the body any way you like,
What feels good at this time.
And in your own time,
Open your eyes,
Come to a seated position if you like,
Taking a moment to reflect on your experience with this body scan at this time.
Go in peace.
