Let's begin a compassionate body scan.
Find a comfortable way to sit,
Stand,
Or lie down.
If you like,
You can rest on your back with your hands about six inches from your sides and your feet shoulder-width apart.
Simply find a way that is comfortable,
Alert,
Yet relaxed.
Allow your eyes to close gently if you like,
Or soften your gaze.
If you're sitting,
Have your feet flat on the floor,
Your hands resting on the tops of your legs.
Feel the full support of the ground or chair beneath your body.
See if you can let go 10% more,
Really allowing the body to relax.
Let's start by putting your hand on your heart to remind yourself to meet yourself with kindness.
Feel the weight of the hand on the chest,
Allowing yourself to let go and soften.
Now bring attention to breathing.
Start with three easy,
Slow,
Deeper breaths.
Letting go,
Arriving.
You can leave your hand on your heart or place it in your lap.
Invite a calm,
Relaxed state of being.
Bring attention into the body.
See what sensations you notice in your body,
If any,
In this moment.
You might notice physical sensations.
You might notice emotions.
Whatever it is,
Just let it be there.
It's not easy to bring attention to what's happening in the body,
Especially when strong emotions are present.
That's when we usually want to leave,
Distract ourselves,
Turn attention away.
Here we're practicing staying,
Being in the body with whatever's here.
Allow your breath to flow naturally,
Easily moving in and out of the body.
As we're doing this body scan,
If you become distracted or your mind wanders,
That's no problem.
Simply notice it and return attention back to wherever we happen to be on the body.
And as you check in with each part of your body,
You might notice strong sensations such as heat or coolness,
Pressure,
Tightness or aching.
See if you can observe without judging or evaluating,
Just bringing a gentle,
Kind awareness to your body,
As if observing it from the inside out.
So take a deep breath in.
As you exhale,
Follow the breath all the way down through your body and bring attention to your feet.
Starting with the right foot,
Notice any sensations that might be present,
Tingling,
Temperature,
Anything.
Turn attention to your toes,
The ball of your foot,
The heel,
The arch,
The top of your foot.
Move your awareness up to the ankle,
Lower leg,
Upper leg.
Just observing.
There might be a lack of sensation.
That's fine too.
Now let's move over to the left foot,
Noticing any sensations there.
The toes,
The ball of your foot,
The heel,
The arch,
The top of your foot.
Now move up to the ankle,
The lower leg,
The upper leg.
Simply sensing.
And as you do so,
Try to release any sensations of tightness or tension you might discover.
Now bring attention to the hips and up to the abdomen.
Bringing awareness here.
This is a seat of a lot of emotions.
And we're training interoception,
Our capacity to see within,
To sense emotions early on just as they're arising.
So you might notice sensations here or lack of sensations.
And if that's so,
Just notice what neutral feels like.
Moving attention up to the chest area.
Bringing awareness to the lungs to breathing.
Noticing the quality of breathing.
Is it slow or fast?
Deep or shallow?
Turning into the quality of your breathing is an important and rich source of data.
It's a source of information about the emotions you might be experiencing.
So just see what you notice.
And now move attention around to the back,
Starting with the lower back.
We often don't realize there's an aching or a tension in the lower back.
So we're bringing a kind attention to a place that carries a lot of load for us.
And now moving attention up to the upper back,
The shoulder blades.
Sensing the body from the inside out.
Noticing if there's any tension or tightness there.
And just bring a kind attention to whatever you discover.
Releasing,
Relaxing.
Now bring attention up to the shoulders,
The tops of the shoulders.
What do you notice here?
You can pull the shoulders up and release them down.
Sometimes that helps us to really see and tune in with what's happening.
Now bring attention around to the front of your body,
The neck,
The throat.
We often hold a lot of tension in the throat.
There's a tightness.
Sometimes indicating that there's things that need to be said that are not.
Just noticing what's there.
Moving up to the jaw.
Relaxing,
Releasing the jaw.
Moving to the mouth.
Observing.
Is it moist or dry?
Is there a tightness in the jaw,
The face,
The mouth?
If so,
Just letting go.
Moving to the cheeks,
The eyes,
The muscles around the eyes.
Observing.
How do the eyes feel right now?
Are they tired?
Are they alert?
Relaxed?
Moving to the forehead.
And finally to the top of the head.
Seeing if you can sense any tingling or sensations or energy.
Just noticing what's here right now.
And finally,
As you've moved from your feet to the crown of your head,
Be aware of your body as a whole.
Just breathing now as one integrated body.
Just noticing what that feels like.
Sometimes it can be difficult emotionally or physically to be in the body.
We're practicing a compassionate body scan.
A way of bringing a kind and gentle attention to the body.
Noticing what's here.
So we can be both kind and skillful.
We can know that all human beings experience a full variety of emotions and sensations.
And we can increase our capacity to be with whatever's here.
We ultimately increase our resilience this way and wish ourselves well.
So bring a kind,
Compassionate awareness to yourself,
To whatever you're experiencing as you do this practice.
Just noticing any strong emotions as they arise.
Allowing them to be there.
If you like,
You can place a hand on your body where you feel emotions or sensations if they're present.
As you do,
Offer yourself kindness and inner compassion.
Remind yourself that you are the receiver of this kindness.
You are the receiver of this compassion.
Let's deepen that kind attention by repeating phrases silently to ourselves.
May I be peaceful.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
If you like,
Bring a gentle smile to your face.
Simply pulling up the corners of your mouth into a slight smile.
Notice any physiological sensations that arise in response to smiling.
Now return to simply breathing.
Breathing the inhale and the exhale.
Now see if you can allow gratitude to arise.
Gratitude for yourself,
For creating space to pause,
To bring attention to your body,
Cultivating a deeper capacity for compassionate self-awareness.
Bring the sense of spacious,
Kind,
Clear seeing with you as you move through your day.
If you find that you need to reset later today,
Simply pause,
Bring attention back to the body and breathe.
Thank you for practicing this compassionate body scan with me.
May you be well.
