Compassionate Body Scan

In this body scan, we offer kindness and compassion to each part of the body, smiling at the body in the same way we would smile at a good friend. While this maybe a challenge at first, befriending the body is a crucial step towards health and wellbeing.

Transcript

The Compassionate Body Scan.

Coming into a comfortable posture.

You might choose to be seated or perhaps lying down.

Inviting a sense of ease into the body.

For this body scan we'll be offering wishes of compassion,

Kindness,

And care to different parts of the body,

Part by part.

Notice what this brings up for you.

Recognize any feelings that are here.

Uncertainty or resistance.

Or perhaps relief.

As best you can,

Allowing whatever arises to be here.

Opening to your experience,

Moment by moment.

We'll be offering warm-hearted attention to different body parts in the same way you might greet a friend with a smile.

Knowing that you can find your own way to work with this body scan.

There may be times when you choose to place a hand on a part of your body.

Perhaps place a hand on your heart.

Simply as a gesture of kindness.

Or there might be times where you choose to rest in the breath until you're ready to move on in the body scan.

Trusting in your strength and courage to be with what's here now.

Knowing too that you have options.

So as you're ready,

Directing the focus of attention down through your body into the toes of the feet.

Feeling the soles of the feet and the tops of the feet.

Knowing what the feet know.

Perhaps feeling an appreciation for these feet that have carried you every step of your journey.

Recognize that an injury in this area would complicate your life.

Or perhaps if you've had an injury,

Offering a sense of compassion.

May these feet be healthy and strong.

Resting in appreciation in the muscles and bones of the feet.

And on the next out breath,

Letting go of awareness in the feet and shifting now into the ankles,

Feeling the lower legs,

Knees,

All the way up through the thighs.

If this is an area where you experience judgment,

Perhaps wishing for a sense of ease.

Sending a warm hearted sense of compassion,

Appreciation and care.

For these legs that offer you strength and stability and mobility.

As best you can,

Sending a warm and caring kindness from your heart and extending it to your legs just as they are.

Breathing in and breathing out with appreciation for the legs.

And then shifting to the focus,

To the buttocks and pelvis,

The organs of elimination and reproduction.

Bringing a warm hearted attention to the hips,

Pelvis,

Buttocks.

Wishing for a sense of acceptance.

May I accept myself just as I am right now.

Breathing in and breathing out with a sense of appreciation for this area of the body.

And on the next out breath,

Letting go and moving the focus of attention now into your back.

Feeling each part of the back,

Lower back,

Middle back and the upper back.

There might be an area of tightness or tension here.

Extending the wish to be free from pain.

May my back be free from pain.

May I feel ease in my back.

Noticing too if there might be some gratitude for all your back and spine do for you.

Keep you upright.

Allow you to be flexible.

And then letting go,

Letting go of the back and allowing the focus of attention to circle around and come to the abdomen,

The area of the low belly.

This may be a place where you feel some judgment or self-criticism.

As best you can,

Sending a kind and friendly attitude to the belly,

The home of digestion,

The core,

The center,

The home of gut feelings.

May I be free from suffering here.

May I feel a sense of ease.

And then expanding to include the rib area that houses the vital organs,

Holds the river of breath,

The lungs.

Appreciation for the breath of life itself.

Continuing to include the chest,

Noticing the movement here,

Maybe even the pulsation of the heartbeat,

The home of heartfelt feelings.

May I feel ease in the front of my body.

May I see my body as a friend.

May I let go of judgment or criticism.

Just doing the best you can with it right now.

And then on an out-breath,

Letting go of the focus in the front body and shifting the attention down through the arms and coming into the hands.

Exploring the tips of the fingers and the fingers.

Exploring the palms and the backs of the hands.

Knowing what the hands know in this moment.

Reflecting on all the things that these hands can do for you,

How they take care of you.

Sensing in and breathing out with a sense of kindness and appreciation for the hands.

And on the out-breath,

Letting go.

And allowing the attention to come into the arms,

The lower arms,

The elbows,

The upper arms.

Shifting into the arms and sending kindness to the arms.

They've been there since the beginning,

Before you even knew you had arms.

These arms that hug and hold.

And appreciation for the arms.

And then letting go and shifting into the shoulders and the neck.

The neck that has the muscles that do the heavy lifting of holding the head up.

And the throat,

The home of the vocal cords.

May there be some ease in the shoulders.

And then spreading the awareness to the back of the head,

The sides of the head,

The top of the head.

Maybe feeling the hardness of the skull,

The complicated bones that protect the delicate organ of the brain.

And sensing into the face.

Feeling the muscles of the face that do the work of expressing or hiding our feelings.

Communicating for us one way or the other.

Sensing into the eyes that see.

The ears that hear.

The nose,

The mouth.

Gratitude if you have all your senses knowing that not everyone does.

Or appreciating the senses that you do have.

And offering kindness and friendliness to the head and face.

And then spreading this kindness and friendliness from the head through the neck,

Through the front body,

Torso,

Through the arms to the fingertips,

Through the legs to the soles of the feet.

Feeling a sense of kindness and friendliness to the whole body.

May my body be healthy and strong.

May my body be free from pain and suffering.

And just feeling a sense of appreciation.

The body as an instrument rather than an ornament.

And checking in now what's coming up for you.

Recognizing how it is right now.

Allowing your experience to be.

Finding room for it because it's already here.

Being interested.

What emotions arise.

How do they change one way or the other?

And if it's helpful to you,

Naming or noting whatever you find.

And then feeling the breath in the body.

It's like coming home to an old friend.

An old friend that's always there for you whether you know it or not.

Feeling the river of breath pulsing through the body.

And as we prepare to end this body scan,

Acknowledging your own inner strength and courage.

Knowing that this journey offers us challenges that might be helpful.

Helpful in learning and growing.

And finding a sense of wholeness and well-being.

Reviews

Thanks very much:)

Thank you, this is a good pace for a body scan and brings a good mix of body mind heart. I was able to move with the guidance and appreciated the evenness, on my own I can stall or drift away, and liked bringing gratitude and care to my body.

Excellent, thanks.

Really nice extra positive twist on bodyscan practice. Thank you.

I’m in early recovery from an eating disorder and have been looking for meditations that help me with my poor body image and found this very calming and also felt it on a very deep level. :) Thank you 💚💚🙏🙏

I loved this body scan - I appreciated the gentle kindness and compassion, the pace of the scan and the acknowledgement of the potential challenges of acceptance! A journey worth continually practicing:)

I really enjoyed the simplicity of this. Occasionally, the voice was a bit abrupt.