Bodyscan XL

This is a nice and long bodyscan to allow you to really sink deeper into awareness. There's no music, just a guiding voice and enough silence to really get in touch with yourself in a beautiful and profound way.

Transcript

Welcome.

Make sure you have time enough to lay down and be undisturbed for this meditation.

Lay down on your back,

On a padded surface,

On the floor or if you prefer in your bed,

In a way that would be comfortable for you.

Choose the right support for your head and knees if you like,

To make sure you can easily lay down for the coming time.

Put your arms alongside but not touching your body and turn the palms from your hands towards the ceiling if that feels okay for you.

Let your feet fall away from each other.

If you already feel or know that laying on your back is difficult or uncomfortable for you then choose the position that works best for you.

You can also change your position whenever you need during this meditation.

This body scan is an awareness meditation to stay awake rather than to fall asleep,

So if at any moment you feel like dozing off,

Open your eyes to become more present again.

I invite you to rest in this present moment with an open mind and open heart.

Your awareness of what you are experiencing is what this meditation is all about.

Even if unpleasant thoughts,

Emotions or sensations arrive,

Just stay with it,

Be with it,

Be with yourself.

Especially when having challenging experiences,

Try to open up and welcome all there is.

It is just asking your attention and inviting you to be with it,

To be with yourself.

It might not always be easy but it's the way to cultivate your being mode.

It's a matter of getting away from the tendency we all have to want things to be different to what it is right now or to want to get rid of things we find uncomfortable.

Allow yourself to be exactly as you are.

Allow all things to be exactly as you find them.

This is a time set aside entirely for you,

To be with yourself fully.

It's a time to give yourself attention.

See if you can allow yourself it to be a nourishing time.

Use the instructions for guidance to watch your body and the activity of the mind as we go along.

Become aware of judgmental and critical thoughts and allow yourself to notice them and letting them go afterwards.

Again,

It's an invitation to be with how you feel and what you feel.

Remembering there's no right or wrong way to feel while you're doing this.

Accept all there is and give yourself permission to feel what's already there.

See if you can stay with yourself and experience moment by moment what is unfolding in your body,

Your heart and your mind.

If at any moment you want to go deeper into silence and therefore you need to pause this meditation or to lower my voice,

Please do so.

This is your time.

This is your experience.

You can always come back to the guidance whenever it feels appropriate.

Now let's begin.

Bring your attention to a sense of your body as a whole lying here,

However it is in this moment.

So right now as you lay here simply giving yourself over to feeling the sensations of contact.

Feel all the places where your body is supported by the surface that you're lying on.

Feel where you touch the mat or mattress and feel where you notice tension or relaxation in your body.

Feel the air that surrounds your body and touches your skin.

Feel the air entering your nose and feel how the air becomes your breath and how your breath moves through your body.

Feel how the breath moves your body,

How your chest and belly expand while breathing in and how your exhalation changes your body again.

Feel the rhythmic waves of the breath as it moves in and out,

In and out.

Feel the rising and the falling of your belly.

A sense where the movement in the breath is most vivid for you.

It might be the nostrils,

The chest,

The belly.

As you lay here see if you can open to and rest in an awareness of the body as a whole,

Breathing moment by moment,

Breath by breath.

With every out breath you relax a little more and you sink deeper in the surface where you're lying on as if you allow yourself to be supported or carried a little bit more and you allow yourself to relax a little bit more.

Notice if the mind wanders or is carried away by the thought stream and in those moments notice what is on your mind and gently bring your attention back to your breath and your body laying here.

Keep in mind throughout this practice session that it is the nature of the mind to wander and think so it's bound to happen a lot and it's not a sign that you're doing anything wrong or that you're not doing it good enough.

Now let go of the body as a whole and bring all your attention to your left foot featuring your left foot center stage.

Feeling the left heel touching the surface you're lying on.

Now take a moment to really tune into the toes,

Feel the separate toes,

Distinguish each toe from all the others.

Bring a gentle interested affectionate attention to the various sensations you find there.

Perhaps you also feel how the toes are touching each other and you may become aware as well of the temperature of your left foot.

Is it cool or warm?

Does it feel dry or moist?

Whatever the particular sensations are is not important.

Just feel your left foot as it is and that might also be not having any sensations at all.

If that's what you're experiencing when you tune into this region at this moment right here right now.

Become aware if you experience these sensations or the lack of sensations as pleasant or unpleasant or neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

Also be aware of any emotional reactions that may arise because I'm kindly asking you to stay focused on this left foot for quite some time.

Whether you feel aversion,

Boredom,

Sadness,

Impatience,

Anger or judging yourself harshly,

Just allow yourself to be merely holding this in your awareness moment by moment as you lay here without having to do anything at all,

Without having to change or alter anything.

Just being present with what is unfolding and continually coming back to the left foot itself.

And as you lay here attending to the left foot see if you can imagine your breath coming in passing by your lungs,

Your belly and via your left leg reaching your left foot and left toes.

And see if you can imagine your breath coming back all the way from the toes and foot through the left leg,

Torso and out through the mouth or nose on the out breath.

And now take a slow,

Deep,

Intentional breath down into the left foot and on the out breath you let go of your attention to the toes.

You see it dissolve so to speak or fade away.

Now you gently bring your attention to the region of the lower leg.

You feel the shin in front and the calf in the back on the surface and deep.

Opening up to all the sensations that are here.

Inviting your awareness to be present with your left lower leg and allowing that left lower leg to be as it is,

However it is.

You rest here in full awareness,

Accepting the feelings you are feeling and just breathing with them moment by moment.

And when you are ready here too on an out breath you let go of this lower left leg as you come to focus on your left knee.

Breathing to any and all sensations in this left knee,

Breathing with the knee as it is.

Bringing the knee cap,

The sides of the knee and the back of the knee.

And on an out breath,

When you are ready,

You let go of the left knee now.

You move into the region of the left upper leg,

The thigh all the way up to the groin on the inside and the left hip on the outside.

Feeling the entirety of this region of the body,

Whatever sensations are here to be felt moment by moment.

And when you are ready,

You take a deep breath into the thigh and then on the out breath you let go here too.

Now shift your attention to the right foot,

The toes on your right foot,

The heel and ankle.

Notice how readily your attention can move to the other side of your body,

To the right foot.

And as you do so,

Without even wiggling your toes,

You open to what's already present.

Breathing with the whole of the right foot as it is.

Becoming aware if you experience any sensations or the lack of sensations.

And if you experience this as pleasant or unpleasant or neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

On an out breath you let go of the right foot and you bring your attention to the right lower leg.

Allow your awareness to fill and bathe the right lower leg,

Tuning to whatever sensations you feel.

And once again on an out breath let go of this part of your body.

Gently bring your attention to the right knee now,

Breathing with it,

Being with it,

Feeling it on all four sides of the right knee.

Once again on an out breath you let go of your attention to your right knee,

Watching it dissolve in your mind's eye.

Now move into the region above the knee,

To the upper leg,

The thigh,

Groin and hip on your right side,

Tuned to whatever is to be felt and known.

Sustaining your awareness here as best as you can in this region of your body as you lay here breathing.

Whatever the sensations that are here to be felt,

Be aware of the heaviness,

The lightness,

The warmth or whatever comes up.

With your next out breath you easily let go of the upper leg and thigh and so you move into the direction of the pelvis.

You are aware of your hips,

Your groins,

Your genitals,

Your perineum and your anus,

The buttocks in contact with the mats or bed and you cradle this whole region in your awareness.

You are in touch with any sensations or lack of sensations you are experiencing.

And when you are ready you let go of the whole of the pelvic region on an out breath.

Just watch it soften and release as you sink even deeper into stillness and awareness,

Totally present in each moment.

And to just be and to be right here,

Right now,

Being you as you are.

Now,

Gently direct your attention to the lower back,

To the lumbar spine coming out of the sacrum.

The lower back is particularly prone to tension,

Stress and fatigue.

Just breathe with whatever sensations you are aware of.

Tune into the lower back and let your breath penetrate this entire region and cradle all sensations as they are in your awareness.

Let the tightness or tension there may be,

Be included in your experience and allowed to flow out with the out breath to the next extent that it will.

And as you breathe out,

Just let go of the lower back now.

Move into the region of the belly,

The sides of the lower torso,

Right up to the bottom of the ribcage all around.

Feel your belly rise with each in breath and falling backwards towards the spine with each out breath.

You allow yourself to be in touch with all and any sensations in your belly.

And you recognise any thoughts or emotions as they might be arising and passing away.

You keep resting in awareness,

Moment by moment,

Breath by breath.

Now when you are ready,

You take a slow,

Deep,

More intentional breath in and you feel how the air fills the entirety of your belly.

And just letting the air out.

And as the breath dissolves in the air,

You allow this region of the body to dissolve in the mind's eye.

You now bring your attention to the upper torso,

The ribcage and the chest,

The region that's housing your heart and lungs and the great vessels of your blood stream.

Sense your chest walls and your breasts,

The collar bones,

The upper back,

The shoulder blades,

The shoulders.

Just breathe with any and all sensations in this region of your body,

Allowing it to just be there while you are breathing with it.

Perhaps you can see if you can get in touch with your heart beating in your chest.

Feel how your ribcage expands and contracts as the lungs fill with air on each in-breath and release on each out-breath.

Recognize any sensations of contraction that may have accumulated in this region of your body.

Become aware of your shoulders and allow them to just hang as you breathe with them.

Notice if there's any thoughts or emotions coming up and passing away as you linger here.

When you're ready,

Take a long,

Slow and deep breath,

Cradling it here for a moment.

And now let the breath release and as the breath lets go,

Notice what happens as the mind lets go of this region of the body as well.

You now bring your attention to focusing on your hands and see if you can focus on both hands at the same time,

Feeling the hands on the backs of the hands,

The palms of the hands,

Your thumbs,

Index fingers,

Middle fingers,

Ring fingers and pinky fingers.

Breathing into the hands,

The fingers and also the wrists.

Being with and breathing with your wrists,

Hands and fingers.

And on the next out-breath,

Letting go of the focus on your hands and moving your attention to the lower arms,

Your elbows and the upper arms and your armpits,

Feeling the entirety of your arms moment by moment by moment as you lay here.

And when you're ready once again,

Just let go of the focus on the arms now as your breath lets go.

Now gently bring your attention to your shoulders,

A part of the body where tension is tangible.

Be with your shoulders,

Breathe in the direction of your shoulders and just feel what sensations are there for you to be felt.

Allow any and all sensations to be experienced by you,

Just being with your shoulders.

And when it feels right,

With an out-breath,

The shoulders seem to dissolve.

You drop deeper and deeper into awareness itself.

Just be present in each timeless moment.

As best you can,

Allowing your thoughts to dissolve so you can just experience yourself fully as you're laying here,

Resting in awareness.

Now you move into the direction of the neck and throat,

Opening to whatever is here to be felt.

This region,

Together with the lower back and shoulders,

Is a place where tension can accumulate.

So perhaps being aware of any tension or fatigue,

As well as other sensations,

Including as well any sensations in the throat and larynx.

And just resting with this entire region in awareness as it is,

Moment by moment,

Breath by breath.

And when you're ready,

You too let go on an out-breath of the neck and throat,

Letting them dissolve as we move into the region of the head and face.

This is another region that stores tension over the course of a day,

Experiencing it as it is in this moment.

Perhaps feeling the place where the back of the head is in contact with the surface you're laying on.

And feeling as well the whole of your face,

Allowing it to be at rest.

Your forehead,

The region of the eyebrows and the space between the eyebrows.

Another zone of your eyes,

Your nose,

Your cheeks,

Jaws,

Lips and mouth and also your chin.

Sensing the breath moving in and out,

Past the gateways of the nostrils.

The sensations in the jaw,

Sensing if there's space between the upper and the lower jaw or not.

Feeling your tongue in your mouth,

Feeling your teeth.

You are also aware of your ears,

Including in awareness whatever sounds may be coming to the ears.

The region of the eyes and seeing the light coming through the eyelids or if you chose to lay down with open eyes,

Becoming aware of what you're drinking in with your eyes.

You also feel the temples and you feel the crown of your head,

The entirety of the scalp and cranium.

Allowing in awareness to hold and embrace with friendly acceptance the whole of your head and face,

Just as they are in this moment.

Breathing with them,

Cradling them in awareness as you lay here,

Moment by moment.

Relax as well,

Any thoughts or emotions that may be moving through the mind like clouds in the sky.

And when you're ready,

Taking a slow,

Deep,

More intentional breath in,

Right into your head and face.

And on the out breath,

Letting go of this region of the body as well.

Watching it to dissolve into stillness,

Into a natural peacefulness as your breath lets go and as the mind itself lets go.

And you come to rest in awareness itself.

An awareness that you can invite once again to hold the whole body.

From the toes and the bottom of the feet,

Right up through the legs and torso,

The hands and arms,

The shoulders,

Neck,

Face and all the way up to the top of the head.

Watching the whole of the body as you find it however it is at this moment.

And just resting right now in awareness and stillness.

A deep inner silence and wakefulness as you lay here.

Complete just as you are.

Whole just as you are.

In touch with your essential completeness.

A realm of wellbeing.

Listen to things just as they are.

And so.

And so this practice almost comes to an end.

You might want to take some time to thank yourself and congratulate yourself for making and taking the time to nurture yourself in this way.

Perhaps as well forming the intention and resolve to keep practicing regularly over the days,

Weeks and months to come.

To befriend yourself in this way over and over and over again.

And let your deep inner resources nourish your life as the tendencies of the dual and driven doing mode are recognized and held and guided and healed in this way by the domain of being.

And keep in mind that this awareness is portable.

It's always as close as your breath this moment.

Perhaps over time you will find that the mindfulness you are cultivating here spills over naturally from periods of formal practice such as this one into every aspect of your day and your life.

And so resting here now as you lay here in silence and stillness.

Allowing things to be as they already are moment by moment.

As you lay here fully awake,

Fully alive,

Complete just as you are.

Whole just as you are.

And as always please remember you can come back to this meditation as much as you like,

Whenever you like.

Reviews

...💫heel en compleet..de energie van je warme en rustige stem bracht me voelbaar daar, in connection with each bodypart..