Compassionate Body Scan

This meditation is perfect for the end of a long day or right before bed time. This body scan allows us to take some time to show our bodies compassion and gratitude for all the hard work they do to support us and carry us through daily life.

Transcript

This guide of meditation is called the Compassionate Body Scan.

It should take about 20 minutes to complete.

So before getting started,

Decide how you'd like to position yourself.

You may want to sit on a chair with your back upright and yet relaxed or else on a meditation cushion or you may even want to lie on the floor in what's known as the quartz pose in yoga.

So once you get yourself situated,

We'll begin.

So start by first getting in touch with your body,

How it feels right here in the present moment.

See if you can feel the weight of your seat on the cushion or of your back on the floor.

Just notice the entire field of body sensation,

Any prickling,

Tingling,

Heaviness,

Pressure,

Lightness you may feel.

Just feel your body just as it is right now.

So what we're going to be doing is moving our attention and awareness to different parts of the body,

Sweeping from the crown of the head down to the toes and back again.

And as we go through different parts,

Giving ourselves compassion for any pain or tension we may feel there or perhaps for any shame or feelings of inadequacy we have about certain body parts.

So starting with the crown of your head,

Just notice what sensations are there.

See if you can tune into that point just between the air above your head and where your skull starts.

Again,

Is there any tingling or sensation there?

So just notice it.

If not,

That's fine too.

Then become aware of your facial muscles.

We have hundreds of muscles in our face.

They work very hard for us expressing our emotions,

Some of which are quite painful,

These emotions.

If you feel any tension or stress in any of your facial muscles,

Try relaxing,

Soothing them,

Maybe imagining caressing your face with your awareness,

Being grateful for how hard our face muscles work for us.

Then become aware of the back of your head.

Any sensations there?

If you have any sort of headache or pain,

Just being kind,

Tender,

Compassionate to the fact that you weren't feeling perhaps as well as you'd like.

Or if no sensation is there,

Just feel whatever's happening right now.

Now become aware of how your neck feels.

Again,

Any tension,

Burning,

Tightness,

Our neck often holds our.

.

.

Well,

First of all,

Holds up our heavy head and holds a lot of tension,

Especially if we sit at a computer all day.

So just relaxing the neck muscles and soothing and comforting any points of pain you may be experiencing.

Just relaxing your neck muscles and soothing any points of pain you may be experiencing.

Just relaxing your neck muscles and soothing any points of pain you may be experiencing.

Any sensation like hot,

Cold,

Tight,

Stabbing,

Dull.

Take a moment to have compassion for the stress of being shoulders in your body.

They take on a lot forth.

Just soothing,

Comforting any feelings of pain or discomfort you may have.

Just dropping down so that you're aware of your upper back,

Your shoulder blades.

Again,

Feeling any tension that's there,

Any discomfort,

Allowing it to be as it is,

Hot,

Sharp,

Soft,

But using our awareness to acknowledge any pain and to soothe that area of our body.

You might mentally imagine getting a little bit of a massage there in your shoulder blades.

Then become aware of your chest area,

The seat of our heart.

Your emotions are often felt very intensely,

Including difficult ones like grief,

Disappointment.

Try to notice how the physical sensations of your chest are manifesting.

Is the sensation moving?

Is it buzzing?

Is it tight?

Just simply notice what's there,

Relax around it,

And comfort yourself for any pain you might be feeling in your chest.

Just as a mother might caress a child who's feeling discomfort.

Take the same attitude with your awareness.

Then focus your attention on your stomach area,

Your gut.

A lot of difficult emotions get stored here,

Including fear.

We may have some judgments about our stomach.

Maybe it's not quite as thin as we'd like it to be.

First,

Just focus on the actual sensations of your stomach.

Is there any movement,

Maybe you're digesting food,

Any tension,

Any physical discomfort?

Then also,

Are any feelings coming up of inadequacy or non-acceptance of being exactly who you are in this moment?

Whatever arises,

Try to take a very calm,

Comforting,

Loving stance towards this part of our body.

We often have such difficulty with maybe even sending some appreciation for a very hard task of digesting our food,

Allowing us to be alive.

Just relaxing and softening.

Then turn your awareness towards your lower back.

Very big muscles there needed to keep us upright.

If you feel any tension,

Try to relax that part of your body and consciously soothe and comfort any pains or aches you might feel.

It's hard to be in this human body with its limitations.

We can be kind to ourselves in this moment.

Then dropping down to our pelvic area.

Again,

A lot of tension often here we don't even pay attention to.

We often avoid paying attention to this part of our body.

Just notice what feelings are there.

If there's any discomfort or tension,

Try to relax.

There are any emotions that come up for you that are difficult.

Again,

Take a very soothing,

Comforting approach towards this part of your body.

Just allowing it to be as it is.

Then dropping down to your seat itself.

If you're sitting,

This will be easy because you'll feel the tension of your buttocks on the chair or cushion.

And also if you're laying down,

You'll feel tension there.

Just noticing what feelings are there.

If there's any tightness or tension,

Soothing and relaxing this part of your body.

And if there are any emotional feelings associated with perhaps not accepting this part of your body and not being exactly as you'd like it to be,

Which I think is probably all of us.

Just having compassion for the fact that we're imperfect human beings.

Just accepting that with an open heart.

So let's move back up to our arms and we'll do them each individually.

So start with your right arm,

The top,

The shoulder blade,

The top of your arm,

The upper bicep.

What does your upper arm on the right side feel like right now?

Big muscles there that often get strained lifting and holding things.

So soothing any tension or discomfort,

Relaxing,

Caressing with our awareness kindly.

And now your lower right arm.

Just gently noticing what you feel there.

Now your right wrist and fingers,

Your hand.

We have an amazing number of bones in this part of our body,

Especially with the increasing use of computers,

These get worked over and over and over again.

So just notice,

Do you have any tension there?

Any feelings of discomfort?

And if so,

You can just soothe,

Comfort yourself.

Have compassion for any pain you might be feeling.

And if there is no discomfort,

Just rest in the peacefulness of being free of pain.

Then shifting your attention to focus on your left upper arm and shoulder.

Feeling how your muscles feel,

Any tension that's there.

Gently stroking your arm with your awareness,

Comforting yourself.

Dropping down into your lower left arm.

Feeling the sensations to be just as they are.

And your left hand and wrist.

Focusing your muscles,

Appreciating how hard your fingers work for you,

The freedom it gives you.

Now shift your focus to your right upper leg.

Very big muscle here,

Our thigh muscle.

What do you feel right now in this area of your body?

See if you can relax the muscle.

If you notice any discomfort or tension,

Kindly soothing and comforting this part of your body.

And moving down to your right calf and shin,

The lower part of your leg.

Feeling the muscles.

Focusing around any tension.

Then finally focusing on your right foot.

A surprising amount of tension and stress gets stored in our feet.

A lot of pressure gets put on them.

Take a moment to appreciate your right foot.

It allows you to walk,

Run,

Dance.

So relaxing and soothing any feelings of pain that arise.

Giving yourself a mental foot massage.

Now move your awareness to your left leg,

The upper half,

The thigh muscle.

Softening around any tension.

And as always if any emotional reactions come up of non-acceptance of a certain part of your body,

Giving yourself compassion for that.

Recognizing how hard it is to be in our competitive culture.

Then dropping down to your left lower leg,

Your calf muscles,

Your shin.

Relaxing soothing.

And then focusing on your left foot,

The ankle,

The sole of your foot,

Your toes.

Just be aware of any sensations that are there,

Tingling,

Burning,

Pressure.

And soothing and comforting any feelings of discomfort or pain that might be there.

And now widen your focus so that you are aware of both feet.

Moving up to both calves,

Both upper legs,

Up to your stomach,

Your chest,

Your neck,

Your head.

Just imagine the energy flowing out the top of your head.

Seeing the energy of life flowing through you.

Resting in awareness of this magnificent body we have,

With compassion for its pains and appreciation for its wonder.

Reviews

Love your work k.neff!

Self compassion is so needed In this world.

I love how you didn’t need to make this a perfect recording. It really shows this work in action.

I loved this scan and found it incredibly relaxing and nourishing as I work on cultivating self-compassion. Thank you for this scan!

A very soothing practice! For me, it was great for cultivating equanimity. Thank for you for this so abundant experience of kindness!

Thank You, 🙏 very much !! That was an Excellent Body Scan 👍. I was Extremely Relaxed by the time the meditation ended. Thank You 🙏🙏 again.

Got me exactly where I needed to be , with the floor of the eternal that's within us all. Thank you 🙏 Kristin ♥️

Absolutely loved this & appreciate the smooth tone & light laughter

Really good but I can’t tell you how it ends as I’m always asleep by then

Beautiful. Thank you 🙏 I love how calming it is to give compassion to each part of my body in this body scan. And how it often helps when I'm feeling pain or discomfort.

Soothing voice and wonderful description of sensations. 🌷

Fabulous! Compassionate body scan. Would appreciate more talk about putting compassion on body parts that don't work too well or maybe aren't even there. That helped me with my pains. Please be aware of ableist talk, that not everyone's foot let's them walk, run, and dance. How can we appreciate a damaged, diseased, or painful body part or at least put compassion on it? It helped me when you talked about being compassionate, for instance, about pain, shame, and fear related to a body part. Thank you for this.

Thank you, Kristin, once again. Your meditations bring so much joy to me and those around me. Greetings from Finland! 🖤🙏🏻🖤

Kristen integrates the body scan with a compassionate practice in a synergistic way.

The morning check-in is an inspiring start to the day.

Excellent body scan, adding compassion along with awareness is a lovely experience.

Everything Kristin Neff does is wonderful, just like this meditation.

I love this body scan! So soothing, grounding, and affirming for me. Thank you! ❤️🙏❤️

A very calm guided experience moving through the body with openness and compassion. Thank you.

This was very helpful to get grounded and become present in my body. Thank you! 🙏💖

Lovely, peaceful, relaxing ~ thank you! Namaste 🌺🙏🌺

Wonderful powerful and soothing for the body and kind for the mind