Long Body Scan

Almost 40 minutes in length, a breath-based body scan. Breathe your way all around each part of your body. Take your time. It's fine if you fall asleep, you'll join back in with the instructions when it's the right time.

Transcript

This is the longer body scan practice.

The instructions will be given as if you are laying down either on a bed or on a mat on the floor.

But it's also perfectly fine to do this sitting in a chair.

Allowing the eyes to close.

Moving awareness inwards.

Noticing the points of contact between the body and the surface on which you are resting.

Heels against the floor.

Calves,

Buttocks,

Shoulder blades,

Head.

Allowing awareness to move inwards.

Noticing the breath flowing in and flowing out.

You don't have to breathe in any particular way.

Just allowing the breath to take its own natural rhythm.

Sometimes when we turn our attention towards the breath,

The breath can feel quite laboured and like it requires a lot of our effort.

That's okay,

That's quite normal.

That's one of the things the mind can get up to when we're practising mindfulness.

But if we can,

We're just trying to stand alongside the breath.

Just allowing that perfectly natural process to continue.

Breathing in and breathing out.

We don't need to breathe more deeply or smoothly.

Just come into the breath as it is in this moment.

Noticing the breath by the nostrils.

That flow of air entering the body and leaving the body at this point.

What sensations do I notice here?

Moving down through the length of the breath.

Allowing sensations of movement from the upper chest and perhaps the belly to also enter into awareness.

If we find awareness is pulled away by an internal or external distraction,

That's okay.

That's what can happen with our minds.

Just acknowledging where awareness went to and then very gently bringing it back to the breath and to these instructions.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Just being interested and curious about the sensations of the breath.

If any other thoughts or feelings are coming up,

Any fidgets,

Any itches,

That's okay.

Just allow some space for those to be there.

If you wish to move or alter your posture,

It's also fine.

We need to take care of ourselves and our bodies during this practice.

I would however invite you just to spend a few moments with that itch,

With that fidget.

Just tuning into the sensations that are there before we then respond with action.

Noticing the breath still there,

Moving in and moving out.

A steady,

Continuous rhythm.

Just allowing awareness to be alongside our breath.

There's nothing else we need to do right now.

We've chosen this time to invest in our practice.

Just allowing the breath to be our experience right now.

Breathing in and breathing out.

With the next in breath,

It's almost as if we were breathing beyond the edges of the lungs.

Just starting to let the breath move into the body cavity.

If this feels too unusual or too strange,

Then just holding the body cavity,

The abdomen in awareness.

And also keeping some connection with the breath that's moving in and moving out.

Breathing out into the abdomen.

Letting that awareness move down into the lower part of the torso.

Breathing in and breathing awareness into the pelvis and into the hips.

Breathing in and breathing awareness into the left hip.

With each in breath,

Moving the awareness further along the left leg.

Breathing into thigh and knee,

Calf and shin.

And all the way down through the ankle to the left foot.

All the way down through the ankle to the left foot.

Breathing in to the left big toe.

What sensations can I notice here?

Any tingling?

Any pressure or contact?

The surface on which you're resting?

Or perhaps clothing or shoes?

Just allowing those sensations to fill the awareness.

If we find the attention's wandered away with a sound or a thought,

That's okay too.

As soon as we've noticed,

We've become mindful.

Coming back with a little smile to ourselves.

There's no rush,

Nowhere else to be.

Just placing that attention in your own time back on the left big toe.

Breathing in,

Breathing into the second toe,

Third,

Fourth and fifth.

Allowing awareness to move all the way around the outer edge of the left foot to the heel and the instep.

Flooding across the sole of the left foot.

The ball of the foot,

The instep.

Noticing any sensations that are present here.

Or if there are no particularly strong sensations,

And just registering this as a blank or neutral.

Breathing in,

Breathing awareness across the top of the foot.

And up and into the ankle,

Around the edges of the ankle.

Deep inside this joint that allows the foot to move and pivot.

Noticing perhaps sensations from the skin.

Maybe from deeper inside the ankle and foot.

And letting go of the foot and the ankle.

With the next in breath,

Moving awareness up and along the shin and the calf.

All the way around the lower part of the left leg.

Being interested and curious about what we notice here.

Sensations of temperature,

Contact,

Pressure,

Tingling.

Just allowing whatever is there to be felt.

And if there is nothing in particular that we notice,

That's okay too.

Just registering that as neutral or a blank.

Breathing in,

Breathing into the knee joint,

To the kneecap,

Deep inside the joint.

Allowing sensations here to register in awareness.

If anything feels uncomfortable,

Any tension or pain,

Just allowing enough space around that.

If we need to back off,

Move away,

Then we can just view the leg,

The whole of the lower part of the leg.

From toes to knee.

But if it's okay,

Breathing right into the knee and around the knee.

Being curious and interested as to what we find here.

And if there is any pain or discomfort,

Sometimes just the act of breathing around an area can bring a softening.

Almost a sense of letting go,

Of any holding.

Breathing in and breathing along the thigh.

All the way along the femur,

From the knee up to the hip.

All the way into the hip joint,

That large ball and socket joint.

Breathing around the thigh.

Just allowing any sensations and perhaps sometimes emotions come up for us too in this practice.

We may find emotions stored in different areas of the body.

And that's okay too,

We don't have to do anything with what we find.

Just breathing as close to what we notice.

Or viewing from a distance if that feels better for us today.

Breathing in to the hip and the thigh.

Just allowing those sensations there to register in awareness.

If we find awareness has wandered away,

With an internal or an external distraction,

That's okay too.

Just acknowledging where attention went to and in your own time,

Just gently bringing it back to these instructions.

Breathing in and let go now of thigh and hip.

Breathing in and moving awareness across the pelvis,

Coming over to the right hip.

Breathing in and breathing that awareness all the way down the right leg.

Down thigh to knee,

Down lower part of the right leg.

All the way into the right foot,

Breathing in to the right big toe.

What sensations can I notice here?

Any contact,

Pressure,

Any temperature.

Just allowing those sensations to fill the awareness.

There's nothing else that we need to do right now other than be with our bodies for these few moments.

Breathing in,

Bringing awareness with each new breath to the second toe,

The third,

Fourth and fifth.

Breathing awareness all the way around the outer edge of the foot.

Allowing awareness to flood across the sole of the foot,

The heel,

The ball of the foot,

The instep.

Sensations that are present,

Fill in awareness or if there's nothing in particular that we notice,

Then we register this as a blank or neutral.

Breathing in,

Breathing awareness around and into the ankle joint.

Sensations perhaps from the skin,

From the outer edge or deeper within the ankle joint.

Breathing that awareness all the way around the right foot,

Across the sole,

The toes,

The top of the foot and into the ankle.

There's no particular way to do this practice.

Just using each breath to bring fresh awareness to this area of the body and to the sensations that may be present here.

Letting go of the right ankle and foot.

Using the next in-breath to bring that awareness up and along the shin and around the calf.

Breathing all the way into the lower part of the right leg.

Breathing around the outer edge and perhaps deeper inside the lower part of the right leg.

Breathing in and breathing awareness into the right knee,

To the kneecap and to deeper inside the knee joint.

What do I notice here?

Just allowing those sensations to be present.

Again,

If there's nothing in particular that we notice,

Just registering that as a blank or neutral.

If we find awareness has wandered away,

Without judgement,

Without any striving,

Just very gently,

Almost with a smile to ourselves.

Bringing that attention back to these instructions and to the right knee.

Breathing in and we're letting go of the lower part of the right leg.

Moving awareness along the right thigh,

All the way along that strong right bone of the femur,

Up to the large ball and socket joint of the right hip.

Breathing awareness in here and breathing around the thigh,

Just allowing some space for whatever we notice.

Sensations of pressure,

Contact,

Tingling,

If there's any pain or discomfort.

Breathing into this also,

If this feels okay.

If anything feels too uncomfortable,

We can just back off and view the difficulty in the larger space of the whole body or perhaps the whole part of the leg.

Breathing in,

Breathing that awareness in to the right hip.

Sometimes we can find emotions stored in different areas of the body.

If any emotions come up for you in this practice,

That's okay.

We don't have to analyse them or understand them.

We're just allowing some space for whatever's there to be there.

Coming back to the body sensations.

Being aware if we're being pulled into thinking.

Whenever we notice we have been carried away by a thought,

Just very gently finding your way back to these instructions.

Coming back to the sensations in the body.

Breathing in,

Breathing that awareness up and into the pelvis.

Breathing all the way around the pelvic girdle,

Around the lumbar region and all the organs that are held within the pelvic girdle.

What do I notice here?

It's allowing attention to rest here for these few moments.

Using the breath to bring fresh awareness to this area.

Breathing all the way into that lower part of the spine,

To the coccyx,

The sacral area.

We often carry a lot of stress and tension in the lumbar region.

Experience stiffness,

Pain,

Discomfort.

Just allowing some space for whatever's there.

You don't have to do anything in particular with these sensations.

Just using the breath to bring awareness to this area of the body,

To the lower part of the spine.

Breathing around the abdomen.

Breathing awareness to the skin and the outer edge and to deeper inside the abdominal region.

Breathing in and allowing awareness to move up along the spine,

Up through the waist and up into the upper part of the torso.

Between the shoulder blades and around the rib cage,

The lungs and all the organs that are contained within the upper thoracic region.

Breathing awareness in here.

Into collarbones and tops of shoulders.

Allowing any tension,

Any perhaps difficult sensations to register in awareness.

We don't have to fix or change them.

Just noticing what's there.

Breathing in to the upper thoracic area.

Using the breath to bring fresh awareness.

Breathing that awareness all around the front of the chest and the upper back.

Breathing through the sides of the body,

All the way up to the armpits.

Again,

If there's nothing in particular that we notice in this area,

Registering that that feels blank or neutral,

That that's okay too.

Gently guiding awareness back to the upper thoracic area.

Breathing attention in to the collarbones and the trapezius muscles along the back of the shoulders and neck.

Breathing awareness into the left shoulder joint.

Just allowing attention to gather here for these few moments.

Into this large ball and socket joint at the top of the left arm.

Breathing in and breathing that awareness with each in-breath all the way along the left arm.

Breathing through past the elbow and the forearm.

Down into the hand.

Breathing into the thumb.

What sensations can I notice here?

Just allowing those sensations to fill the awareness.

Breathing into the thumb and the first finger,

The second,

Third and fourth.

Allowing awareness to move all the way across the palm of the left hand and around to the back of the left hand.

Do I notice temperature?

Perhaps contact with the surface that's supporting me?

Or with another part of the body?

Just allowing any sensations to fill awareness.

Using the breath to bring awareness into the left hand.

Letting go of the left hand and breathing in to the left wrist.

Breathing that awareness deep inside the wrist and also around to the skin and the surface of the wrist.

This joint that allows the hand to move and turn.

What sensations can I notice here?

Again if we find awareness has wandered away,

Very gently guiding it back.

Just bringing it back to the left wrist.

Breathing in.

Awareness moving along and into the forearm,

Left forearm,

All the way up to the elbow.

Breathing awareness in to this lower part of the left arm.

Around the edge of the left arm.

To the skin and the surface and deeper inside the left arm.

What sensations do I notice here?

Gently bringing awareness back.

Any time we find we've wandered away with a busy mind or a sleepy mind,

That's okay.

It's what tends to happen.

Just gently bringing awareness back to this lower part of the left arm.

Breathing in.

Breathing up into the upper part of the left arm.

To the bicep and tricep and all the way back along to the large ball and socket joint of the shoulder.

Breathing in to this upper part of the left arm.

Allowing awareness to flood around this area.

What sensations do I notice here?

Breathing our awareness right into the left shoulder joint.

Moving along the trapezius muscles across the back of the neck.

All the way along to the right shoulder joint.

Breathing in here.

And each in breath,

Moving our awareness along the right arm.

Down past elbow through forearm.

Past wrist and into the right hand.

Breathing in to the right thumb.

Allowing awareness to rest here for a few moments.

Gently guiding awareness back if we find it's wandered away.

Breathing in to the right thumb.

To the first finger,

The second,

Third and fourth.

Allowing awareness to flood across the palm of the right hand.

And also across the back of the hand.

Noticing sensations from the skin,

Temperature,

Contact and any sensations from deeper inside the hand.

If there are no particularly strong sensations,

Then we register that as neutral or a blank.

Breathing in,

Breathing awareness into the wrist.

Around the outer edge of the wrist.

And deep inside this wrist joint that allows the right hand to turn and move.

The sensations that are present here.

Allowing awareness,

Using the breath to bring fresh awareness to the right wrist.

There's no particular way to do this practice.

Using the breath to direct our attention back to these instructions.

Back to this particular part of the body.

If we find awareness wanders away,

That's quite normal.

That's what our minds will tend to do.

Just very gently guiding it back in your own time.

And with a smile to ourselves,

To the right wrist.

Breathing in and breathing awareness along the right forearm.

All the way up to the elbow.

Breathing into the outer edge and to deeper within the forearm and the elbow.

Noticing pressure,

Perhaps discomfort,

Any tension or pain.

If we're noticing any pain and that feels a little too intense for us,

Then just using a bit of a wider view.

Almost as if we were using a torch beam to direct our attention and awareness.

We move from a spotlight to more of a floodlight.

Viewing within the wider space of the arm.

Breathing in and breathing that awareness up into the upper part of the right arm.

Into the bicep and the tricep.

All the way along the strong white bone.

To the large ball and socket joint of the shoulder.

Noticing any bracing or any tension.

We can sometimes hold ourselves by bracing around the upper arms.

Just noticing what's there for you.

Again,

If we find any emotions present,

That's okay.

Just allowing some space for those to be there.

We don't have to fix or change or shift or do anything with what we notice.

Our intention for this practice is simply to use the breath to be with our body just as it is.

Breathing in and breathing awareness back along the backs of the shoulders.

Letting go of the right arm and moving along those trapezius muscles at the back.

To where the shoulders and arms meet the spine.

Breathing into this point of the neck.

Often a place where we hold tension and stress.

Again,

We don't have to do anything with what we find.

If you wish to move,

That's okay.

Just turning attention towards those sensations.

Just using the breath to bring the light of awareness to just how the back of the neck is for you today.

Breathing into this area.

Breathing along the upper part of the spine to where the skull makes contact with the spine.

Breathing around the sides of the neck and into the soft tissues of the throat at the front.

This is sometimes a place where we can hold tension.

If we're not speaking our truth,

We may feel sensations here in this area.

Breathing into those.

Again,

We don't have to do anything with this in this practice.

Simply spending this time being with the body.

Breathing awareness into the neck and to the throat.

And letting go of neck and throat.

With the next in breath,

Breathing in to the back of the head.

To the skull and the scalp.

Moving around the back of the head and up to the crown of the head.

Breathing awareness across the forehead and the eyebrows.

Breathing awareness into the eyes.

Noticing if we're still trying to see,

Even with the eyelids closed.

Breathing that awareness around the eyes.

Perhaps giving them permission to switch off.

Breathing across the nose and the cheeks.

The lips.

The tongue and teeth.

The jaw.

The hinge of the jaw.

The ears.

Allowing awareness to fill the head and the face.

Breathing into this area.

Bringing awareness to the face,

The jaw,

The head.

Again,

If we notice any tension or discomfort,

Using the breath to explore that.

We may find that the breath brings with it a softening quality.

It's okay to come to the body just as it is.

The aim of this practice isn't to relax or to let go of tension.

It's just to bring awareness to ourselves as we are right now.

Often we find we may feel more relaxed after completing a practice.

And that's okay too.

Breathing in,

Breathing into the head and the face.

As we're breathing,

Holding contact with the crown of the head.

And letting awareness move back out once more through the whole of the body.

Keeping contact with the crown.

Breathing in through the head and face.

The neck and throat.

The collarbones.

The shoulders.

The left and right arms and hands.

Breathing in through the upper chest.

The waist.

The abdomen and pelvis.

Breathing into hips.

And down through legs and knees.

To feet.

The breath in the midst of the body.

Moving in and moving out.

Holding contact from the crown of the head.

All the way down to the soles of the feet.

Just allowing the breath to move freely at its own pace.

And if we wish now we can move the breath through the body.

So if this is something that works for you,

Then follow my instructions.

If not,

Then just stay with the breath.

And that awareness of the whole space of the body.

From the crown to the soles of the feet.

As we're breathing in,

Allowing awareness to move up to the crown.

So it's almost as if we were breathing in through the crown of the head.

Breathing out.

Breathing out through the soles of the feet.

Breathing in.

And breathing in through the soles of the feet.

Breathing out.

And breathing out through the crown of the head.

Breathing in.

And breathing in through the crown of the head.

Breathing out.

And breathing out through the soles of the feet.

Breathing in.

And breathing in through the soles of the feet.

Breathing out.

And breathing out through the crown of the head.

Allowing this flow,

This tidal flow,

To gently move with the breath.

In and out.

Breathing in.

And breathing out.

Just taking your own time,

Following your own flow and pace.

Breathing in.

And breathing out.

Coming to rest with an awareness of the whole space of the body.

The breath in the middle flowing in.

And flowing out.

And just allowing awareness to go anywhere in the body that's been pulling on your attention.

Just allowing awareness to shift with the breath to anywhere in particular.

Whether it may be sensations of tension or discomfort.

Just letting awareness move to these areas.

Just breathing in and out here for a few moments.

Again,

We don't have to shift or fix or change what we notice.

If the breath brings with it a softening quality,

Then that's okay too.

Just being interested and curious about what it is we find here.

And coming back to the whole space of the body.

From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.

Breath in the midst moving in.

And moving out.

And having a few more mindful breaths here.

Staying with the rhythm of your own breathing.

Until you hear the sound of the bell.

Which will let you know that this practice has ended.

Bringing some very gentle movement back to the fingers and the toes.

Just starting to wiggle those.

And then maybe having a stretch.

Or a yawn.

If you've been laying on the floor,

You might want to roll onto one side before trying to get up.

Just taking your time,

Being gentle and kind with the body.

It's good to sometimes have a stretch or a drink of water following one of these practices.

But listen to your body and do what feels best for you.