MBSR Body Scan For Embodied Presence

We consciously place our attention to different parts of the body, using each body part as a focus to anchor our awareness in the here and now. While our minds tend to wander, the body is always in the present. As we train ourselves to place our attention in different places at will, the body will help ground us, entering into an embodied presence instead of the often busy mind. This practice may help us learn to truly inhabit our body, feeling more secure and at home, wherever we are.

Transcript

Welcome to this 40 minute body scan.

We begin by finding a comfortable place lying on your back and a space where you feel safe,

Warm and undisturbed.

If lying down isn't comfortable,

It's absolutely fine to do this practice sitting in an upright and dignified posture.

The particular posture you choose isn't as important as the attitude that you bring to this practice,

Making this a time to confirm your commitment to be with this moment just as it is to let yourself be just as you are.

Now see what's still needed,

Covering yourself with a blanket for warmth or finding a pillow to support your head or support any other part of your body.

And trust yourself that you know what the body still needs.

Then letting your arms be by your side,

Hand palms facing up and feet gently falling open away from each other.

Closing your eyes if that feels comfortable.

Inviting a kind and curious awareness for your body and its experience from moment to moment.

And letting go of the tendency that we all have to want things to be a certain way or to improve how we're doing,

But allowing yourself,

Your body,

To be just as you are.

And throughout this practice we bring awareness to all sensations that might arise as you move attention through different parts of the body.

We're not thinking about the body,

But we see what is present when we gently focus our attention on a specific area.

Sometimes you may feel no sensation at all.

That's completely fine.

We are simply discovering our body.

We're not trying hard or trying to imagine something that is not there.

But being present for all thoughts and feelings that may arise from this experience.

And gently remind yourself that this is a time you have set aside for yourself to fall awake to your experience,

To connect with the wisdom of your body rather than to fall asleep.

So when you've found a comfortable posture,

We start this practice by bringing our awareness to the full and entire body.

Its posture,

The various places that make contact with the floor.

Just allowing your awareness to be present for all the sensations that are here in the entire body.

From the crown of your head to the top of your toes.

Being open for what is here in this moment.

Feeling the weight of the body as gravity pulls on you.

And then shifting your focus to the sensation of breathing in the abdomen.

Feeling the changing patterns of the abdomen wall as the breath comes in and the breath goes out.

Riding waves of your breathing.

Taking a break from our busy lives.

A break from trying to control or achieve anything.

Letting go of all of that now.

And particularly in the moments when this practice might be difficult,

As boredom or discomfort arise,

Try to follow the instructions as good as possible.

And when your mind wanders and you notice,

There is no need to judge how you're doing.

Just simply bring your attention to the body and the body part that is then the current focus of this practice.

Now the breath in the abdomen.

Just this breath coming in.

Just this breath going out.

Sinking deeper,

Arriving here.

When you're ready,

Letting the sensation of breathing fade into the background and gather your attention as if it were a spotlight.

Letting it wander down your left leg to the toes of your left foot.

The big toe,

The pinky toe and all the toes in between.

See what sensations are there to be felt in the toes of your left foot right now.

You might notice a feeling of contact between the toes or perhaps tingling sensation or one of warm or cold,

Numbness or no sensation at all.

Whatever it is,

It is your experience and there is no need to judge it.

See if it's possible to allow the sensations to be just as they are.

And then letting go of the toes and bringing your awareness to the soul of your left foot,

The ball,

The arch,

The heel,

What can be felt in this part of the foot.

There might be feelings of light pressure where the foot makes contact with the surface you're lying on or the textile that is covering you.

Exploring all sensations that are there in the soul of the foot.

And wrapping awareness around the foot,

The back,

The sides,

What can be noticed here?

And if you don't have words to describe what you feel,

That's completely natural.

The language of the body is not words that our minds are so used to speak.

The body communicates through sensations.

By getting to know the different sensations that can be felt in each moment,

We can tap into the wisdom of the body.

Now moving awareness around the ankle of the left foot,

Seeing if you can feel into these delicate bones here.

And then feeling the whole foot from the ankle to the tip of the toes.

All the sensations that may arise and pass.

Now letting go of the left foot and your attention may wander up the chin and the calf part of the body that we usually don't spend much time thinking about unless it doesn't serve us anymore.

And taking this moment as an opportunity to bring a gentle and open attention to it.

And when you're ready continue to wander up to the knee,

Wrapping awareness around the left knee and really feeling the entire joint here,

Inside and outside.

How does your left knee feel right now?

Then letting go of the left knee and bringing your attention to your upper leg.

Feeling into your thigh muscles.

You might notice a feeling of tingling,

Throbbing,

Pulsating.

Perhaps you've noticed how your upper leg makes contact with the surface that it's resting on.

And then expanding awareness from that pinpoint on your lower leg to encompass the entire left leg.

From the joints of the upper leg down to the toes.

Being open and aware of all sensations you can feel in the entire left leg now that you hold it in kind awareness.

And then letting go of the left leg,

Smaltering attention again to a pinpoint that now wanders through the hip region and down the right leg,

Down to the toes.

And feeling the big toe,

The pinky toe and all the toes in between.

And if you can you might also feel the spaces in between the toes.

Then bringing awareness to the sole of the right foot.

The ball down the arch to the heel.

Again you might notice feelings of pressure where the foot makes contact with the surface that it rests on.

And exploring all sensations that are there on the sole of the right foot.

And wrapping awareness around the foot,

The tops,

The sides,

What can be known as attention arrives here.

And then circling around the ankle of the right foot.

Not thinking about the ankle but feeling right into the bones and joints.

And once again feeling the entire right foot from toes to ankle.

Being open and aware of all the sensations that can be known here in this moment.

And from there letting go of the right foot and moving awareness up the right leg.

Being open and curious for sensations that may arise in the calves and chin.

And remember when your mind wanders and you notice there is no need to judge,

Simply bring your attention to the body part that is the current focus of this practice.

Now the right lower leg.

Seeing what can be felt here.

And then moving attention upwards to the knee.

Feeling inside the knee,

Top of the knee,

Circling around the knee.

Expanding a moment here.

And letting go of the right knee and feeling into the right upper leg.

The thigh muscles,

Any point of contact that this body part makes with the floor or the texture that it is covered by.

And also being aware of any thoughts about this body part that may arise.

But reconfirming your commitment to notice but to let go of thinking and instead simply feel into the thighs.

Being kind and open for anything that draws your attention as your awareness rests in this part of the body.

And from there expanding awareness once again to encompass the entire right leg.

From the joints of the upper leg down to the toes.

Feeling,

Experiencing the right leg.

And then feeling both legs left and right at the same time.

See if you can hold all fluxating sensations and spacious awareness.

Now letting go of the legs and moving awareness into the pelvic area.

The joints,

The hips,

Buttocks,

Your genitals.

Feeling into the organs of reproduction and elimination.

And we often hold tension in this area without being aware of it.

See if that's the case and if so you may invite a feeling of letting go,

Relaxing any tension in this pelvic bowl.

And from there becoming conscious of your lower back,

Caressing the lower back with your awareness.

What sensations are present here?

Now moving up from the lower back,

Up the spine,

Becoming aware of all the sensations in the mid-back.

And you might feel how parts of our back are gently lifted from the surface that it's resting on,

Simply by the movement of the breath.

And from there continuing along the spine to the upper back.

This is again an area where we often hold tension.

And for this practice we might just try to spend some time with any of these parts of the body and its sensations that might feel unpleasant in some way.

Simply because this is our present experience,

We also bring a kind and gentle attention to sensations that we don't enjoy feeling and observe them.

Notice that they may change in intensity or even fade.

And of course if at any point this becomes too challenging,

It's always skillful to move away from pain that is too discomforting and to return to feeling the breath in the belly.

Back to home base.

But you might just see this as an opportunity to bravely explore what happens if you rest your attention on sensations that feel unpleasant.

See how they're moving.

What is the dance?

Now holding the entire back in awareness.

Entire spine.

And then wandering attention down to your lower abdomen.

Again taking a few moments to feel the breath here,

Coming in and out as your abdomen rises and falls.

And expanding awareness to include the entire belly.

Being aware of its organs that are helping to digest our food.

And you might have already noticed sensations of digestion here.

And wandering up the belly over the solar plexus to the center of your chest.

Being aware of the ribcage as it expands to both sides.

The chest.

The lungs.

And feeling your heart.

Again you might discover that the breath gently moves your chest up and down.

This part of the body that we often call our emotional center.

Now being present for it.

Making room for whatever is here to be felt.

And then expanding awareness to encompass the entire torso.

Feeling your entire back resting on the floor surface that you're lying on and feeling the chest and belly.

Making space for all the sensations that are here to be felt.

And then letting attention wander on over your collarbone towards the left shoulder.

Seeing what sensations can be noticed here.

Is there tightness or tension?

Simply noticing it without judging it.

And from the left shoulder we move awareness down the left arm,

Also along the armpit.

Softly circling around the left upper arm.

Feeling its skins and muscles.

Moving down to the elbow.

Inner and outer part.

Exploring what this joint feels like when we spend some time with it.

And then becoming aware of the lower arm both inside and outside.

What can you notice?

And wrapping awareness around the left wrist and you might feel your pulse here.

And then noticing the palm of your left hand.

And the back of your left hand.

Now starting with the pinky finger becoming aware of the fingers of the left hand.

Including the joints,

The fine bones,

The fingertips,

The fingernails.

From the pinky moving to the ring finger.

The middle finger.

Index finger.

And the thumb.

There are many nerve endings in the tips of our fingers.

So you might notice tingling or pulsating sensations here.

And then expanding awareness once again.

So include the left hand and wrist.

And the entire left arm.

Down from your hands up to your shoulder.

Feeling all sensations as they arise and pass in the left arm and hand.

Now when you're ready let go of the left arm.

And wander your attention over to the right shoulder,

Top of the shoulder and inside.

Gently caressing your right shoulder with your awareness.

From there moving down along the armpit around the upper arm.

Feeling into its muscles and bones.

And focusing your attention on the elbow,

Inside and outside.

And the lower arm.

How does the right lower arm feel moment to moment when we rest our attention here?

And wrapping awareness around the right wrist.

And feeling the palm of the right hand.

The back of the right hand.

The pinky finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Index finger.

And your thumb.

And you might also feel the spaces between the fingers.

And then expanding awareness to include the right hand and wrist.

And the entire right arm.

From your shoulder up to the fingertips.

And experiencing the right arm.

Now becoming aware of both arms left and right.

Feeling all sensations as your arms rest here along your side.

Maybe feeling into differences.

And from there we wander over both shoulders towards the neck and throat.

What can you notice here?

Is there tension in your neck that is carrying your head all day?

And you might want to explore breathing into that area.

Breathing into tension.

And then wandering over through your throat.

You might feel the air as it travels up and down the windpipe.

Now wandering up to the chin and jaw.

Another area that often tightens without us noticing it.

How does it feel for you in this moment?

And then discover how the inside of your mouth feels like.

Is your tongue relaxed and resting in the lower palate?

Can you feel into the gums and teeth?

Just exploring this whole mouth area with your awareness.

So noticing your lips.

Are they open?

Are they touching each other?

Again,

Many nerves end here and you might feel sensations.

And if not,

Then that's okay too.

Whatever is here,

This is your experience.

And from the upper lip,

Attention might wander through and to the nose.

Feeling the nostrils inside,

Feeling air traveling in and out the nostrils.

Can you become aware of the tip of your nose?

And then letting attention wander on to the cheeks and temples,

Both sides.

Further to the ears.

And feeling into the fine muscles around the eyes.

Becoming aware of the eyeballs.

Eyelids.

Eyebrows.

And noticing the space in between the eyebrows.

Continuing to caress your face with your awareness,

We become aware of the forehead.

Another area where many of us feel pain,

But for this practice,

Dropping thoughts and judgments.

And once again,

Discovering what is here now.

As attention arrives at the forehead.

Then moving further over and around your scalp.

Feeling the sensations of your head resting here.

And wandering up to the crown of your head.

And see if you can feel this very top of your head.

There might be a feeling of pressure,

Of throbbing,

Sensation.

See what is true for you right now.

Now expanding awareness to include the entire head.

Being open for all the sensations you may notice in your face and scalp as your head is lying here.

Now further expanding awareness to include the body once again as a whole.

Feeling the sensations of wholeness.

Being aware of any and all sensations that arise,

Dance and pass through your body.

An embodied presence.

Becoming aware of the breath.

Becoming aware of all body parts that are touched by breathing.

Feeling the body safely resting here,

Breathing.

This body that has been with you from the beginning is alive and changing and travels with you through this entire life.

Maybe this is a moment to say a silent thank you to your body,

To yourself for taking time and energy to support yourself in this way.

Or in the words of the poet Rumi,

How often do you make regular visits to yourself?

Start now.

If your eyes have been closed,

You might gently open them again,

Becoming aware of your surroundings.

And when you soon continue this day,

Knowing that this feeling of wholeness,

Of natural presence in your body and its wisdoms are always with and available to you.

Reminding yourself of your ability to be with the present moment as it is,

To be with your body as it is,

Including its pains and its wonders.

Be aware of the life and complete as you are.

You.

You.