The body scan.
This will be a short practice body scan.
And it'll last about 20 minutes.
Just allowing yourself to get into a comfortable position.
Preferably lying down on a mat or a thick rug or the bed.
And if you're sitting in a chair,
Ensuring that your feet are flat on the floor.
And your spine is self-supporting by sitting away from the back of the chair.
In an upright position but not stiff.
As you're lying down just allow your arms to be alongside your body.
Slightly away from the body with your palms facing upwards.
And your feet falling away from each other.
Noticing now the entire body.
Noticing the pressure points as you lie down on the mat or the rug or the bed.
The head,
Shoulders,
Elbows,
The backs of the hands,
The buttocks,
Calves and heels.
Perhaps opening to the attention now to include the entire body.
Lying or sitting here.
The soles of the feet to the top of the head.
I may be saying to yourself,
I am doing a body scan.
May I come home to my body?
And as we practice the body scan at any time,
If the sensation in the body becomes too uncomfortable or thoughts or emotions arise that are difficult.
Remember that it's always possible to return to the rhythm of your breath as a safe place.
A retreat for you to rest in until you're ready to venture into the body scan again.
And then just re-tune in and listening to the sound of the guidance.
Noticing your breath.
Breath rolling in.
Breath rolling out.
Riding the waves of the breath.
Just noticing.
No need to change your breath in any way.
Just allowing things to be as they are.
And as we move through the body scan there's no need to make sensations happen.
If there's no sensations there,
Then simply noticing.
And investigating.
And investigating the experience of a very alive body.
And how this aliveness is known through sensations.
Gathering onto our senses.
Feeling how it is to be sitting here or lying here.
Noticing.
Whatever it may be,
Just allowing your experience to soften.
And be kind to yourself with a gentleness.
And be kind to yourself with a gentleness.
So starting with your feet.
Noticing your toes.
The big toes.
Little toes.
Toes in between.
And in between your toes.
What sensations are here?
Maybe tingling.
Or numbness.
Or maybe no sensations at all and that's okay.
Just registering a blank.
Not giving yourself a hard time.
And moving your attention to the top of your feet.
To the sides of the feet.
And round the back to the heel.
And the instep of the foot.
Becoming aware of the soles of your feet.
And holding your feet in.
Center stage of your awareness.
Experiencing the sensations.
And noticing what these may be.
Temperature.
Warmth or coolness.
Fizzing,
Tingling,
Pulsing.
Sense of touch.
Maybe the feeling of socks on your feet.
Or maybe bare feet.
And feeling the air around your feet.
Just really becoming aware of what's happening.
And then allowing yourself to dissolve this attention of your feet.
And paying attention now to your ankles.
Deep into the ankles,
The small bones and the hinge of the ankles.
What's going on here for you now?
What are you experiencing in the ankles?
Or maybe nothing at all and that's okay too.
And as we move now to the lower leg.
The front of the legs,
The shins.
Thin layer of skin.
And then round to the back of the legs.
The calf muscles.
What sensations are present here in this moment?
Maybe feelings of tension or bracing in the muscles.
Maybe feelings of tension or bracing in the calves.
Just allowing things to be as they are.
And then bringing into your focus now your knees.
Such a hard working hinge.
This part of the body.
Maybe just really exploring deep into the knees.
The kneecap.
Beneath the kneecap.
To the sides of the knee.
The inside of the knee and the soft cup of the knee round the back.
Just really exploring this.
Maybe sending some gratitude down to your knees.
Maybe sending some gratitude down to your knees.
Notice if you're judging your knees.
Maybe bring some kindness.
And as you release your attention on your knees.
Allowing yourself to notice the thighs.
The long column of bone.
Noticing the top of the thighs and round sides and the back of the thighs.
And the buttocks.
Noticing what sensations are here.
The pressure of the buttocks.
As you're lying on the mat.
Or sitting in the chair.
Bringing your attention to the pelvis.
And the entire pelvic region.
What sensations are you noticing here?
Deep into the body.
And paying attention to the small of your back.
And the small of your back.
And the small of your back.
And paying attention to the small of your back.
This area where we quite often hold a lot of stress.
And is often referred to as the reservoir of stress in the lower back.
Noticing if you get caught up in thinking about any area of the lower back.
Noticing if you get caught up in thinking about any area of the lower back.
What does it feel like to be curious about this area of the body?
What does it feel like to be curious about this area of the body?
Just noticing the sensations.
There's no right or wrong way to feel.
Just investigating the experience of the body.
And now taking a deeper breath.
Moving your attention into feeling the stomach area in the upper trunk.
Through the torso.
And up into the heart region.
The chest.
Feeling the sensations of the breath here.
Feeling the breath rolling in and rolling out.
Without needing to do anything in this moment.
And taking your attention round to the back and all the way up through the spine.
And taking your attention round to the back and all the way up through the spine.
Right up to the shoulder blades.
Right up to the shoulder blades.
And the shoulders.
What's there to feel here in the muscles or the bones?
Maybe any tightness or looseness you can feel in the shoulders right now.
And travelling all the way down.
Down the arms to the hands.
The fingers and thumbs.
The palms of the hands,
The back of the hands.
Moving your attention to the wrists.
And the forearms.
What's here to feel,
Touch,
Pressure,
Warmth?
Maybe something or maybe nothing.
And if your mind has wandered off to some past event or jumped to the future.
With kindness just bringing your attention back to the body without judging.
And bringing your awareness right back up to your shoulders now.
And then the neck.
And the throat.
And up through the back of the head.
And the scalp,
The hair.
Down through the forehead.
Eyebrows.
Eye sockets.
Eyes.
Temples.
Just notice what's here.
Allowing things to be just as they are if you're feeling any tension or bracing in the head at all.
Becoming aware of your ears.
Inside the ears.
Cheekbones.
The cheeks,
The jaw.
Following the jaw line all the way down to the chin.
Up to the lower lip.
And inside the mouth.
Your gums.
Your teeth.
How's this area inside the mouth feeling right now in this moment?
Maybe noticing where your tongue is sitting either on the roof of your mouth or on the floor of the mouth.
No right or wrong way to be.
And then bringing your attention to your top lip and up to the nose and the nostrils.
And with your next breath,
Maybe imagining that you can fill the entire head and face with your next breath.
And taking that breath right up to the top,
The crown of the head.
And maybe imagining that you have a blowhole like a whale or a dolphin at the top of your head.
And that you're able to breathe this breath right out through the top of your head.
And then allowing yourself to breathe in through this space in the top of the head.
And breathing all the way down through the body.
Swilling and rinsing and cleansing as you do.
Right the way to the soles of the feet.
As if you could breathe out of the soles of the feet.
And then breathing back in through the soles of the feet.
Drawing that breath up through the body.
And breathing out through the top of your head.
Cleansing with the breath.
Drawing in the breath,
The top of the head.
Taking the breath down,
All the way down through the body.
And out through the soles of your feet.
And just giving yourself a few moments now to breathe in this way.
As you gently now bring your attention back to the place in which you're lying or sitting.
Becoming aware of your surroundings,
Stretching,
Moving.
And gently bringing yourself back to this moment.
As this short practice body scan comes to a close.
