Compassionate Body Scan

A traditional body scan with added compassion for the self. Breathe it all around your body, to every part. We take our bodies for granted. Take a mindful moment to thank your body for all it does, to accept it as you find it, to rest.

Transcript

We're going to do a compassionate body scan practice now.

So ideally it's good to do this laying down,

But we can also do it in a seated posture.

So finding somewhere comfortable and warm where you won't be disturbed for the next 10 minutes or so.

So gently allowing the eyes to close or lowering the gaze.

Just bringing our attention inwards and away from whatever we've been doing or whatever's been happening.

Just giving ourselves permission to stop and to just be for these few moments.

Starting to notice the points of contact that we can feel between the body and the surface that we're resting upon.

So we're really just giving ourselves permission to start to let go.

To sink into the surface that's supporting us.

As we feel the pull of gravity on the body and the bed or the floor or the sofa rising up underneath to support us.

So we can let go of any need to hold up the body and let this surface that we're resting upon do its job.

Bringing awareness onto the breath.

So we're starting to feel that flow of air that's moving in and out.

It's allowing the breath to find its own natural rhythm.

So we don't have to breathe more deeply or more slowly.

Just breathe in at a regular pace however that is for me today.

And as we bring our attention onto the breath we're imagining that around us in the air mixed in with the oxygen,

The carbon dioxide and other gases.

There's some compassion.

So this extra element that's wishing us and our bodies well.

So as we breathe in we're drawing in lungfuls of this compassion that's just resting in the air around us.

We can feel the breath at the nostrils.

Feel it moving across the body.

Feel it at the temples.

Feel it moving across the roof of the mouth,

Down the throat and fill in the lungs.

We're wishing the whole breath is wishing our body well.

Right into the very tip of each hair sack of the lungs.

May I be well.

May I find calm,

May I find peace.

May I be free from suffering.

Breathing that in on the in-breath.

As we breathe out this sense of letting go.

Letting go.

We're breathing all the way down to the bottom of the lungs.

Into the area of the diaphragm.

Feeling this large sheet of muscle.

And wishing this well,

Breathing compassion towards this area of the body.

As we breathe out,

Letting go.

Letting go of any struggle,

Any resistance.

Making more space to breathe in more compassion.

Breathing in,

Bringing our attention beyond the diaphragm and the edges of the lungs down into the abdomen.

And all the way down to the hips.

We're breathing along both the left and right legs together.

All the way down to the tips of the toes.

We're breathing these compassionate feelings into each toe and the sole of the foot.

Breathing around the foot and across the top of the foot.

Wishing each foot and turn well.

Moving up.

We're allowing our compassionate breath to move around the ankles.

To the Achilles tendon at the back of the heel.

And then up along the shins and the calves.

Breathing into the knees.

Bringing compassionate breath around these joints that allow the leg to bend in the middle.

And we're wishing these areas of the body well.

So we may sometimes find that we might get angry with parts of the body that don't work how we would wish.

With this practice,

We're just breathing in that compassionate feeling.

That sense of well-being,

Of acceptance,

Of calm.

Wishing each part of the body well in turn.

And as we breathe out,

Breathing out with a sense of letting go.

So moving along the thighs.

Breathing a compassionate breath to any areas of tension or holding here at the tops of the legs.

And coming into the hips.

Breathing around the pelvis to the lumbar region and the abdomen.

If we notice any pain or discomfort on our journey around the body.

And we're just very gently making some space for this and wishing this part of the body well.

We don't have to get rid of the pain or the discomfort.

We're just allowing ourselves to notice what's here.

And breathe this compassionate,

Warm,

Accepting breath across each and every part of the body.

As we're breathing it out,

This sense of letting go.

And we bring our compassionate acceptance to how this practice is for me today too.

So if we find that our attention isn't staying with the body,

It's perhaps wandering off a lot with thoughts or sounds.

Then that's also okay.

It's coming back to the body whenever we notice.

It's allowing the mind to be however it is.

Allowing this practice to be however it is.

Breathing our breath back up,

Past the diaphragm,

Around the stomach and into the upper chest and the upper back.

We're wishing these areas of the body well.

Breathing our compassionate breath across them.

Moving into the shoulders and down left and right.

Moving into the shoulders and down left and right.

Arms together.

So we're breathing in to the very tips of the fingers and the thumbs.

Moving across the backs of the hands and the palms of the hands.

Allowing this warm,

Accepting breath.

This tender breath to move all the way around both hands.

It's feeling whatever's here for me today and knowing that however this is,

That that's okay.

Just allowing ourselves these few moments within the space of this practice to really be okay with things just as they are.

We don't have to change or fix anything.

We can allow it to be okay even if we find tension,

Pain or discomfort.

We're breathing up through the wrists and along the forearms to the elbows.

Up through the tops of the arms and back to the shoulders.

Just noticing however these areas of the body are.

Any tension,

Any bracing.

Just noticing.

Just wishing the whole of the arms and the hands well.

Moving back into the shoulders and across the very tops of the shoulders and the back of the neck.

Another area of the body that can often show our stresses for us.

We're breathing a compassionate breath in here and wishing this area well.

Moving up along the neck,

Around the throat,

To the back of the head and the scalp.

All the way up to the crown of the head and coming down across the face.

Feeling the forehead,

The eyebrows and eyes,

The nose,

Cheeks,

The tongue and teeth,

The jaw,

The hinge of the jaw.

Feeling if there's any tension in the base of the tongue and if there's a little gap between the back teeth.

Just bringing our compassionate breath all the way around the head and the face and wishing these areas of the body well.

We're bringing our attention back out to the whole space that is me,

The whole space that I occupy.

Breathing in with this sense of wishing ourselves well.

And breathing out with this idea that we can let go.

Let go of anything which doesn't serve us anymore.

Let go of any resistance,

Any struggles or perhaps any shoulds,

Musts or oughts.

Just allowing ourselves these few moments in the present to simply be however we are right now.

Bringing attention back onto the breath.

Feeling the rhythm of the breathing as it is for me.

Noticing how I'm feeling at the end of this practice.

Just allowing any feelings of warmth,

Of space to register in our attention.

And perhaps we wish to take some of these feelings or an intention from this practice with us into the rest of our day.

Very gently starting to bring a little bit of movement back into the body.

Wiggling the fingers and the toes and responding to any requests that the body is making.

To stretch or perhaps have a drink of water.

And then opening the eyes and taking in the shapes and the colours of the room that's around.

And just letting the body be.

And then opening the eyes and taking in the shapes and the colours of the room that's around.

And gently and tenderly going about the rest of our day.