MBSR Body Scan Meditation

Drawn from the 8 week MBSR course from UMASS Medical School, this body scan draws our attention away from the busy, stressed out mind to sensations in the physical body with a sense of curiosity and kindness.

Transcript

This recording by Lisa Sheehan is the MBSR 8-week guided body scan meditation.

Welcome to the body scan meditation.

In this moment,

You're taking an active role in self-care,

Relaxing the physical body in a reclined position and tapping into deep internal resources for renewal.

We tend to spend a lot of time living in our heads with thoughts swirling around like a shaken up snow globe.

During the body scan,

We stop and we lower our center of gravity so to speak as we let go of the thinking mind and focus our attention on physical sensations in the body.

Regularly practicing the body scan builds our ability to place and hold our attention where we choose,

A powerful tool that we can turn to again and again while experiencing stressful circumstances in everyday life.

During the body scan,

When we shine the spotlight of our attention on different regions of the body,

We cultivate the healthy habit of listening to our body.

Our body often reflects our emotional states before our conscious mind is aware of it.

For example,

As we pay attention to sensations in our body,

We may notice areas of tiredness,

Tension or tightness calling out for self-care.

Our body is always sending us signals,

But we're often too out of touch to notice.

It's like having your cell phone ring when you're at a party.

You don't hear it ring until you step outside to a quiet space.

Likewise,

When we create this mind-body bridge during the body scan,

We also take time to notice and rest our attention in the places where there is ease and comfort in the body.

As you travel through the body from the feet up to the head,

What you notice may be pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Neutral or even absent.

There might not be anything much to notice.

Not trying to change or control anything about what we notice,

Just simply observing and noticing as we inhabit each region of the body.

In MVSR,

We lie down on the floor on a yoga mat for the body scan meditation.

Keep in mind here,

The invitation is to fall awake to a place of restorative stillness rather than falling asleep during the body scan.

In this practice,

We are cultivating the skills to find a place of inner stillness while remaining awake,

Finding inner stillness at any time under any circumstances.

If you feel yourself dozing off,

Feel free to sit up for a few moments and then resume lying down or perhaps while reclined,

Bend the arm and hold the hand up in the air with the elbow resting on the ground.

Each time your hand drops as you fall asleep,

It's likely to wake you up.

Feel free to shift around and get comfortable as needed during practice.

During the body scan,

Let go of the thoughts that pop into your awareness and gently return the attention back to the region of the body where we are focused,

Without judgment and without attachment.

Remember our practice is not about clearing the mind of all thoughts,

Rather each time you become aware that your attention has wandered off,

You are practicing mindfulness.

If there is a body part that is difficult to be present with for whatever reason,

Rest your attention on your breath instead for a few moments.

Knowing that you are in control,

You are empowered.

This is your practice,

Nothing to accomplish,

Nowhere to be,

Except in the moment.

Not in the future,

Not in the past,

Coming back again and again to the present moment.

Letting go of all the doing and simply being,

Moment by moment.

This non-striving,

Non-judgment and non-doing is a supreme act of self-care and loving kindness towards the self.

So as you set up,

Be sure to wear loose,

Comfortable clothing that allows easy,

Natural breathing and find a quiet space where you will not be interrupted by people or electronics.

Take a moment to set up your mat and settle into a comfortable reclined position on your back.

Feel free to place a pillow or bolster under the knees to support your lower back or perhaps even hooking the feet up onto a couch or chair in astronaut pose.

So begin and end our practice with the sound of the bells,

Holding your attention to the sound.

Now bring your awareness to the places where the back body is making contact with the support beneath it in the form of the mat,

The floor or the earth.

Find those points of contact,

Perhaps the back of the head,

Shoulder blades,

Low back,

Calf muscles and allow the body to sink down into those points.

Letting heavy and sinking down into the support,

Letting everything go,

No muscles holding anywhere.

Release the physical body,

Allowing it to soften,

Surrendering down to stillness.

First we still the body,

Then the breath slows down and lastly the mind will drop to deeper brain waves of relaxation.

And now narrowing your focus to the sensations of the breath in the body.

Just watching with a sense of openness and curiosity,

Observing the rise and the fall of the breath in the chest,

In the belly,

Observing the sensations of the breath as it enters the nose,

Noticing the quality and the temperature of the air as it enters the nose.

The air is cool as it enters the nostrils,

Warm as it exits.

Observing the natural rhythm of the breath,

No special way to breathe,

Just observing each inhale and each exhale.

Observing the breathing body and being present to whatever sensations are here for you to notice now.

Giving yourself permission to let go of all the thinking and all the doing,

Simply resting in awareness of the breath.

Each inhale and each exhale.

We'll begin our body scan by bringing our attention to the left foot,

Noticing any sensations in the left foot.

Bringing our awareness to the sole of the foot,

The heel,

The ball of the foot,

The arch and each toe,

Noticing any sensations in the left foot.

And then beginning to travel up the left leg,

Any sensations in the ankle,

In the Achilles,

In the lower leg,

In the calf or the shins,

In the knee area,

Above the knee,

Below the knee,

The front of the knee,

The back of the knee,

Checking in and noticing any sensations present in the area of the knee.

And then traveling to the upper leg,

The thigh muscle,

The hamstring.

And coming up to the left hip.

Now the left leg as a whole,

Being present to whatever sensations are here for you to notice now in the left leg.

Now from the left hip,

Traveling across the pelvis,

Across the body,

Over to the right hip,

And bringing awareness here as you travel down the right leg.

Coming to the right foot,

Checking in with the sole of the foot,

Ball of the foot,

The heel,

The toes on the right foot.

Starting to travel up to the right ankle,

The Achilles tendon,

Calf muscle,

The shin,

Checking in with any sensations in the knee area.

The upper right leg,

The thigh and the hamstring,

And back up to the right hip,

And then taking in the right leg as a whole,

Being present to whatever sensations are present in the entire right leg.

Bringing the attention to the overall weight of the lower body,

Sinking into the support beneath.

Bringing attention to the weight of the tailbone,

The buttocks connecting to the support of the mat beneath.

An awareness of the pelvic bowl,

Perhaps noticing the breath here in the lowest part of the belly,

The lower abdomen,

Noticing sensations here,

The rise and the fall of the breath in the belly.

Bringing awareness to the low back,

Noticing any sensations that might be present for you here.

Some sensations are strong,

Some are more subtle,

Some are pleasant,

Some are unpleasant,

And in some places it might be neutral.

We're checking out the low back,

Traveling upwards to the mid back,

Checking in with the muscles in the back,

Sensing the expansion and the contraction of the back of the rib cage with each in-breath and out-breath.

Feeling the subtle movement in the back with each breath.

What's here to notice in the back?

The shoulder blades,

The upper back,

And the back of the neck.

Now bringing into awareness the entire back,

Any sensations that might be present in the back body.

Moving our awareness now to the front body,

To the abdominal region.

Just noticing,

Checking in.

What's perceptible here in this region?

Perhaps,

Sensations of digestion or hunger,

Perhaps movement of the diaphragm,

Just noticing whatever might be present to you in this moment.

Then moving up to the chest area,

Noticing the flow,

The movement of the lungs,

The rise and the fall of the chest,

Noticing the heartbeat,

The rhythm of the breath.

Awareness of the heart and the lungs working together.

Awareness of sensations of life within.

Relief force flowing throughout,

Traveling through the body on the breath.

The left arm,

Taking in and noticing any sensations in the upper left arm,

In the elbow area,

In the forearm,

The wrist,

The hands,

The fingers,

Perhaps noticing sensations of pulsation,

Blood circulation,

Sensations of life energy flowing within.

Then traveling back up the left arm,

To the left shoulder,

Across the chest,

Over to the right shoulder.

And beginning to travel down the right arm,

The upper arm,

The elbow,

The right forearm,

Right wrist,

Right hand,

And the right fingers.

And then beginning to travel back up the right arm,

Up to the right shoulder,

Coming back to the pit of the throat,

The center of the body,

And bringing into your awareness both arms and hands,

Noticing any sensations that might be present.

Traveling upward and noticing any sensations present in the throat,

In the neck,

The back of the neck.

Then noticing points of contact with the back of the head,

Perhaps the weight of the head responding to gravity,

Noticing any sensations that might be present in the overall head,

Bringing the awareness to the ears,

To the nose,

Once again noticing the breath entering the body through the nose.

The mouth observing anything present in the gums,

The teeth,

Bringing the awareness out to the jaw,

Noticing any sensations in the muscles of the jaw,

The muscles of the cheeks,

Moving up to the eyes,

Any sensations present in the eye area,

The eyelids,

Moving up to the forehead,

The center of the forehead,

The temples,

What sensations are present here.

Traveling upward to the crown of the head.

Just noticing.

And now sensing the skin,

The connective tissue that holds the entire body together,

Noticing the feel of the air on the skin,

An awareness of the overall body,

An awareness of breathing in and out.

Attending consciously to the moment to moment experience in this body.

Listening to the messages of the body,

Learning the language of the body,

Sensing bodily presence by moment,

Breath by breath.

Resting in awareness in this breathing body until the bells ring.

And now beginning to invite a deeper breath back into the body,

Beginning to invite movement back into the body,

Wiggling fingers and toes,

Maybe circling the wrists and the ankles.

Doing whatever movement might feel intuitive in this moment.

Perhaps it's hugging the knees into the chest,

Rocking side to side,

Releasing the low back,

Or perhaps it's stretching out arms overhead big and long.

Feeling this movement with awareness and with softness.

And now whenever you're ready,

Rolling onto the left side,

Pausing here for a few moments on the left.

Lying on our left side maximizes the blood flow and the oxygen to the heart and the brain so we don't get dizzy when we get up.

So pausing here on your left side,

Beginning to bring the awareness back out into the room.

And then eventually,

Whenever you're ready,

Putting your palms down on the floor and using the arms to push up to a comfortable seated position.

And then pausing again for a few moments in a seated position,

Allowing the body to readjust to being upright before getting up and ending your practice.

Reviews

A wonderful scanning meditation Lisa. You touched on every body part and your voice is so calming. All my thanks.

Very helpful for stress and wonderfully executed. I appreciated the explanation and instructions.

Exceptional. Well modulated voice. Love the MBSR body scan. Thanks 🙏🏻☯️

Great Thankyou 🙏💖