Bedtime Body Scan

Lay yourself down for this relaxing body scan meditation to support a good night’s sleep. To prepare, you might wash up for bed, get in cozy pajamas, set tomorrow’s alarm, and turn down the lights--mindfully neatening up from the day and preparing for restful sleep.

Transcript

Good evening,

This is Larissa Hall Carlson with a mindful body scan to support a good night's sleep.

I'll guide a meditation you can do lying in bed,

But sit up if that's more comfortable.

To prepare for meditation,

Wash up first,

Getting comfy pajamas,

Set tomorrow's alarm,

Adjust the bedroom temperature,

Turn down the lights,

Snuff out candles and incense.

Mindfully neaten up your space from the day and prepare to fall asleep.

Once you're ready,

Lay yourself down in bed.

Perhaps prop up the knees on a pillow or put on an eye mask.

Make sure you're cozy and comfy.

Close or soften the eyes.

Inhale deeply and release a sigh.

Let's do that again.

Take a few moments to identify a couple of things for which you are grateful today.

These can be big or small,

But let your mind,

Your heart be flooded with gratitude.

As we move through the body scan meditation,

If you need to wiggle or adjust position at any time,

Just do so mindfully,

Remaining present to the practice.

While scanning,

Invite any tense or tight areas that you find to soften.

To begin,

Bring the mind's attention down to the feet.

Float the mind's attention down to the soles of the feet and begin to scan the soles of the feet,

Noting sensation and temperature there.

Scan the toes.

Can you feel certain toes more than others?

Are some toes warm and others cool?

And scan the tops of the feet.

Is the skin exposed to the fresh air?

Is there fabric against the skin?

Scan and feel the feet.

And bring awareness up into the ankles.

Can you sense one ankle more than the other?

If the ankles feel tight or rigid,

You might point and flex the feet a couple of times,

Feel the toes or circle the ankles,

Creating a little more ease and suppleness.

Then returning to stillness,

Feel the ankles,

Noting sensation in the inner ankles.

Scanning and feeling the outer ankles.

Let that awareness flow up into the shins and calves.

Scanning the length and the volume of the lower legs.

Let awareness flow up into the knees,

Starting with the tops of the knees,

Feeling the knee caps.

And scan the backs of the knees.

The inner knees.

The outer knees.

Can you sense the complexity of the knees?

And let the mind float up into the thighs.

Scanning and feeling the thighs.

You might feel the pressure of the thighs against the bed or chair.

The spots around the thighs that are free,

Open,

Without pressure,

More spacious.

Feel for the length of the thighs,

The thigh bones.

And let awareness flow into the hips.

Noticing if one hip feels higher than the other or if one hip is bearing more weight than the other.

You can note that or make a mild adjustment,

Shifting the weight a little here and there to even it out more thoroughly.

Letting there be more ease and comfort in the hips.

And feeling the sacrum and the low back.

And just noticing right off the bat,

Does the low back feel pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral?

And let the awareness flow up into the mid back,

The back of the waist.

Are sensations there different?

Is there more space,

More warmth,

More coolness,

More broadness?

Float attention up into the shoulder blades.

Scanning and feeling the shoulder blades.

Scan the space between the shoulder blades.

Let awareness broaden to scan the whole upper back.

Can you sense the breath in the back body?

Is there any little movement,

Wiggle,

Or adjustment to make the upper back just a little bit more comfortable?

Let awareness flow into the back of the neck.

Scanning and feeling the back of the neck.

Feel for the length of the neck,

The broadness of the neck.

And feeling up into the back of the head.

Scan the whole back side of the head.

How much can you sense?

You might even imagine the brain releasing its grip and just plopping down comfortably into the back of the head.

And scan the whole back side of the body.

Let awareness flow up and down the whole back side of the body.

And invite all the muscles to soften and melt more completely.

Sinking and settling into position.

Releasing gripping or tension.

Invite the whole back body to relax.

Remembering the awareness to the pelvis,

To the pelvic bowl,

To the low belly.

Noticing temperature,

Feeling and sensation there.

Perhaps you can sense the movement of the breathing diaphragm.

The gentle rising and falling of the belly with the natural breath.

And the whole abdomen.

Are there spots that feel pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral?

And breathe up into the rib cage.

Let the breath deepen for a few moments.

Perhaps sensing the expansion of the rib cage.

Feeling for the air in the lungs.

Maybe noticing the heartbeat.

With each exhalation,

Let the body soften and relax a little more.

Releasing tension and tightness.

And scanning into the upper chest and the collarbones and the shoulders.

Does one shoulder feel higher than the other?

Could you make a little adjustment so the shoulders feel more comfortable,

More relaxed?

Let awareness flow down to the hands.

Feeling the palms of the hands.

Notice the temperature of the palms.

The moisture content on the palms of the hands.

And scanning the fingers.

Are the fingers touching right now?

Are they spread apart?

Are the fingers warm or cool?

And feeling the backs of the hands.

And taking in sensation.

Feeling the hands.

Do the hands seem steady?

Are they vibrating?

And let the awareness flow up into the wrists.

Do the wrists feel pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral?

You can continue to scan and note or make little movements.

Wiggling the fingers.

Perhaps rolling the wrists.

Loosening up any tension or tightness in the hands and wrists.

And let awareness scan up into the forearms.

Feeling for the length and volume of the forearms.

Bringing awareness to the elbows.

Sensing the inner elbows.

The outer elbows.

And scanning the upper arms.

Noting the length of the upper arms.

Feel for the inner arms.

The outer arms.

The armpits.

Scanning again over the shoulders.

This awareness flows to the front of the neck and the throat.

Noticing sensation at the throat.

You might swallow once or twice feeling movement.

Or deep in the breath feeling the passage of air.

And bring attention up to the chin and the jaw.

If the teeth are clenching,

Loosen up the jaw.

Let there be a little space between the teeth.

You might rub the tongue around the inside of the mouth.

Feeling the moisture content of the mouth.

The temperature of the mouth.

Feeling the texture of the teeth.

The roof of the mouth.

And feeling for the lips.

The lower lip.

The upper lip.

Keeping them still or rubbing them gently together.

An awareness flowing out into the cheeks and the flesh of the cheeks and the cheekbones.

Scan the tip of the nose.

Feeling the rims of the nostrils and perhaps the movement of the breath coming in and out through the nose.

Passing through the hairs in the nose.

Maybe tickling the bridge of the nose.

And let the awareness flow out into the eyeballs.

As much as you can,

Soften and relax all the little muscles around the eyes.

Scanning and feeling for the eyelids and the eyelashes.

Scan the eyebrows.

Perhaps lifting and lowering the eyebrows a few times.

Allowing those muscles to loosen up too.

And then float awareness out.

Float awareness out to the ears.

Scanning the ears.

Feel for the backs of the ears.

The lobes of the ears.

All the little nooks and crannies,

Rivers and channels.

If you're wearing earrings,

Can you sense those right now?

Awareness flowing into the ear canal.

Perhaps feeling air.

The vibration of sound.

Is it possible to sense the space between the ears?

Likewise sensing the temples.

Scanning and feeling the temples and the space between the temples.

The space between the temples.

Feel the forehead.

Scanning for the broadness of the forehead.

Scaling up into the crown of the head.

Let awareness flow upward just beyond the crown of the head.

Feeling,

Feeling,

Observing the space just above the crown of the head.

What can you sense there?

Can you sense the temperature of the air?

And allow awareness to flow throughout the entire head.

Feeling or observing the entire head at once.

And let awareness flow down the whole front side of the body.

Can you sense the whole front side of the body at once?

And feeling now for the entire body.

Let awareness flow with grace and with ease throughout the entire body.

The entire body at rest.

The entire body rejuvenating.

Feel for the entire body lying down.

Feel for the entire body.

With as much ease as possible,

Turn everything off and drift to sleep.

Fishing you deep slumber.

Reviews

I fell swiftly to a peaceful sleep 😴 🙏🏼thank you.

Great for connection to my body and me. Thank you 🌻

I appreciated the thoughtful, calming body scan before I sleep tonight. Thank you. Namaste. 🌸🌺

I found this to be a very gentle way to awaken into my day. Mornings sometimes are a bit challenging due to chronic fatigue; your calming voice and spirit shining through this body scan made preparing for this day lighter and more welcoming. Thank you. 🦋

This is a fantastic, thorough body scan. Thank you!

Amazingly effective. Personally I feel that it is important for you to be able to connect with the persons voice and Larissa does that for me and completely am in tune with my body and her voice as soon as she begins to speak. Thank you Larissa

Fell asleep before you were done. Very hard for me to go to sleep

Powerful and very effective, a new favourite scan!

This is so goood!!! It let me go to sleep within 10 min!

Wonderful and thorough body scan. I was asleep before the end. Thank you.

The only meditation I’ve tried that never fails to put me to sleep. I return to this every night to ensure I fall asleep quickly. Thank you. 😊

This is my favorite bedtime meditation. I am lulled into peaceful sleep every time. Your voice, full of peace and wisdom, leads me from my thoughts into the present moment. What a gift! Deep gratitude. Shalom blessings. 🙏

Love it when the body scans have something special. This one does

Thank you so good

thanks! Slept like a baby

very relaxing , thank you 😊

As always, superb.

Very effective, will do again. Thank you 🙏🏻💕

Restful, relaxing and sent me to sleep. Perfect! 🥰