Compassionate Body Scan

In this simple practice, you will be guided to bring a gentle kindly awareness to each part of the body in turn, offering gratitude and affection. By bringing awareness to present moment experience in the body we are able to ground, release tension and connect with self-compassion. This practice creates a greater sense of comfort in the body and supports experiences of living with pain.

Transcript

You're lying on the ground,

Allowing the body to release into the earth.

So we breathe in,

Rising up and breathing out,

Releasing and relaxing into the support of the earth.

And in this practice you may like to close your eyes or perhaps having a loose gaze.

And if you're keeping the eyes open,

You're turning away from the screen,

Just having a loose gaze on the floor and knowing that everything that I say in this practice is an invitation.

And feeling free to change what you do.

You know yourself better than anybody else.

Feeling free to change the practice to best serve you.

And also,

At any point,

If you feel overwhelmed or it feels a bit too much,

Knowing you can always stop and always come back to one of the anchors which I'll introduce you to.

You can always open the eyes or move the body.

Or completely end the practice,

Knowing that those options are always available to you.

You don't need to stay in anything that's uncomfortable.

So with that said,

Establishing yourself,

Finding yourself in your posture,

Ready to begin the body scan.

Noticing the parts of the body that make connection with the earth.

Perhaps this is the feet,

The backs of the legs or the sit bones.

Maybe the back or the head.

Noticing where the body touches the earth.

Noticing how the body feels as it rests in the unconditional support of the earth.

And moving your awareness now to the breath.

Noticing the gentle rise and fall as the body breathes.

Not needing to change the breath in any way.

Simply noticing.

And perhaps noticing that to breathe in takes a little energy.

To breathe in the diaphragm contracts,

The muscles between the ribs contract.

To breathe out is to relax,

Is to release,

Is to let go.

And allowing the body to follow the breath,

Release and let go.

Releasing into the support of the earth.

We so often hold our experiences in the body,

Perhaps as tightness or tension.

Part of this we may find we're able to release.

We may be able to allow a letting go as we breathe out.

Removing your awareness now to sound.

Noticing the full soundscape that surrounds you.

Not needing to seek sounds out,

Allowing them to come to you.

Seeing if it's possible to not need to engage the thinking mind or the analytical mind.

Simply noticing.

Being aware of the experience of sound.

The sounds come and go.

Outside the room.

Inside the room.

In the body.

And generally releasing awareness of sound.

And knowing that throughout this practice you can always return to the body on the ground for breaths or sounds.

These anchors are always available to you,

To ground,

To centre,

To come back.

And now,

Setting an intention to foster kindness and wakefulness as we move through this practice.

As the body feels tired,

Noticing this.

Bringing gentleness to this.

Perhaps the body is telling us something.

Perhaps there is a need to rest.

Moving your awareness now down the body to the hands.

Taking the hands and either placing perhaps one hand on the other.

If it feels open to you,

You can place one hand on the abdomen and one hand on the heart.

Sensing the warmth of the hand.

Warmth of the body.

Feeling the body breathing.

Taking a deep breath in and out.

And again,

In and out.

One final deep breath.

Breathing in long and slow.

Pausing and breathing out long and slow.

Releasing the hands back down with an out breath.

Understanding your attention is infused with a warm glow of kindness.

And directing that kindly awareness down to your big toes.

Sensing the sensations of the big toes.

How do the toes feel in this moment?

Perhaps noticing temperature.

Perhaps the touch of fabric on skin.

Or maybe numbness.

Noticing if there's numbness present too.

Knowing that that too is a sensation.

There's no right way to feel.

Or simply noticing what's present.

And expanding this kindly warm awareness to take in the other toes.

Holding all the toes in a warm awareness.

As you do this,

Exploring the sensations of these toes.

Noticing how they feel.

Gradually broadening your awareness to take in the soles of the feet.

The ball of the feet.

The arches,

The heel.

The feet on the ground,

Feeling the weight of the feet as they touch the earth.

Moving your awareness to the top of the feet.

Perhaps bringing a gentle gratitude for your feet.

These feet which work so hard for us every day.

And which we so often don't notice.

We often pay so little attention to.

Now perhaps if it feels right for you,

Bring imaginative breathing in here.

And imagining you could breathe into your feet.

And out once more.

Sensing the breath as you breathe into the feet.

Sensing how the feet feel in this moment.

And releasing.

And releasing awareness of the feet.

Gradually moving that kindly warm glow of awareness up the body.

Up to the ankles.

To the calves.

And the shins.

Noticing any sensations of the skin here.

The sense within the legs.

Simply experiencing,

Sensing.

Any sensations that you encounter.

And seeing if it's possible to saturate this awareness with gratitude and respect for each part of the body as we go.

Moving your gentle awareness now up to the knees.

Noticing the angle of the knees.

And up further to the thighs.

Bringing this kindly warm awareness of the thighs.

We often hold tension here.

Just noticing if that's true for you.

And if it is,

Seeing if it's possible to allow this to be released as you breathe out.

Moving your awareness up to the buttocks.

The muscles here.

Noticing if there's any tension,

Any holding in the body.

Is it possible to ease,

To relax around this?

Softening.

Softening your awareness.

And now imagining you could breathe in to the legs and the buttocks and the hips.

Breathing in.

And as you breathe out,

Breathing out of the legs.

Once more,

Breathing in.

Filling up the legs with the breath.

Breathing out.

And if this imaginative breathing doesn't feel like it works for you,

Then that's completely fine.

Choosing a way of noticing the legs which feels right for you.

Letting go of this imaginative breathing now.

Moving your awareness up the body.

Noticing the pelvis.

The basin of the pelvis.

The ring of the pelvis.

Up to the abdomen.

Breathing as you move your awareness around the body.

And if you notice the minds wandered off,

Seeing if it's possible to celebrate this.

This is the nature of minds and nothing's gone wrong.

Seeing if it's possible to bring a kindly awareness to this ever wandering mind.

Is it possible to notice where the mind's gone?

And then to gently and kindly guide your awareness back to the body.

Back to this moment.

Accept the sensations in the abdomen.

Bringing a soft attention to your abdomen.

Gentle awareness to whatever you find present here.

Expanding your awareness to take in the lower back.

Seeing this kindly awareness.

And slowly bringing your awareness up the back.

Vertebra by vertebra.

Noticing the gentle curves of the spine.

Lower back.

The mid back.

The upper back.

And noticing the shoulders.

Noticing if there's any tension held in the shoulders.

So often hold our tension here.

And perhaps bringing kindly,

Warm awareness if you do notice any tightness,

Any holding,

Or any pain or discomfort.

And if you do come across pain or discomfort,

Seeing if it's possible to breathe into this with a kindly,

Warm awareness.

Is it possible to open to this?

Welcome this into your experience.

So already here,

We may as well notice it.

Often the pushing away only creates more discomfort.

Whatever is a natural state of being,

Or common humanity.

Perhaps releasing your awareness of this place of discomfort.

Moving your awareness now to the chest.

Gentle rise and fall as the body breathes.

And if your attention is drawn back to a place of discomfort or pain,

Perhaps seeing if you can hold both places gently in your awareness,

The point of discomfort,

And the part of the body we're noticing now.

Chest.

The body breathing.

The body that draws air in and then releases to let it out once more.

Perhaps pausing now,

Bringing a sense of gratitude and tenderness to this part of the body.

Perhaps reflecting on how much our body does for us.

It's not perfect.

It does so much for us every day.

Realizing awareness of the shoulders and moving your awareness now.

Down the arms.

Noticing the upper arms.

Bringing your interest and your curiosity to the sensations in the upper arms.

Gently bringing the awareness down to the elbows.

Expanding that awareness to take in also the forearms,

The lower arms.

The wrists.

The hands.

The hands that work so hard every day.

Perhaps noticing the warmth and the energy that's stored in the palms.

Noticing how the hands feel at rest.

And imagining now that you could breathe into the whole of the torso,

The whole of the arms down to the tips of the fingers.

Breathing in and as you breathe out,

Releasing.

And if it serves you,

Using this imaginative breathing to breathe in to these parts of the body with a warm,

Kindly awareness.

You may even like to use your imagination to imagine a golden light.

If that doesn't work for you,

Knowing you can adapt this practice in any way that serves you.

Releasing awareness now of the torso and the arms and bringing your awareness up to the neck and the throat.

Bringing this warm awareness to the scalp,

Whole of the head.

And if you're lying down,

Feeling the weight of the head resting on the ground.

Gently bringing this soft glow of awareness to the forehead.

We so often hold our attention here.

Noticing if that feels true for you right now.

The eyebrows.

Bringing the awareness to the place between the eyebrows.

Bringing that gentle,

Warm,

Friendly attention to the temples,

To the eyes,

To the cheeks,

And the nose.

The jaw,

The lips.

You may like to experiment with bringing a smile to the face.

Noticing how that feels in the body.

Expanding your awareness now.

Taking in the whole of this body.

Taking in the head,

The arms,

The torso,

The legs,

All the way down to the feet and the tips of the toes.

Maybe imagining you could breathe into the whole of the body this warmth,

This gentle,

Kindly awareness.

Sensing the experience of the body.

Those parts of the body that feel discomfort as well as those parts that feel at ease.

And those neutral bits that so often we don't notice.

Those numb parts of the body as well,

Bringing it all into your awareness.

Seeing if it's possible to hold this in a kindly awareness,

Holding the soft glow of attention on the body.

Sensing the subtle movements of the body as you rest.

This warm glow of awareness.

With your next in breath,

Bring awareness to the hands.

And again once more,

Perhaps choosing to rest the hands on the thighs or one hand on top of the other.

Or if it feels available to you,

Placing one hand on the abdomen,

The other on the heart in a gesture of kindness.

Taking a deep breath here,

Breathing in,

Pausing,

Breathing out.

And once more,

Breathing in,

Long and slow,

Pausing and breathing out.

Checking in with yourself,

Noticing how you feel as this practice comes towards a close.

Perhaps setting an intention to do something for this body which is kind.

Kindly awareness for the body,

Perhaps a cup of tea,

A bar,

A walk in nature.

Perhaps just giving the hands or feet a rub.

Noticing if it feels right for you to set an intention.

Perhaps to do this practice again.

Taking a deep breath in and as you breathe out,

Floating the hands down to the thighs.

Bring a little movement to the body,

Noticing what the body needs.

Perhaps moving the shoulders,

Stretching,

Moving the fingers and the toes.

And in your own time,

When you're ready,

Slowly starting to open the eyes.

Reviews

Lovely self-compassion body scan. Such a nice combination of self-compassion and body work. Thank you.

Lovely pace, soothing voice and effective, what more can you need?