12-Minute Body Scan (MBSR)

This 12-minute body scan practice is part of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. In this practice, we start with noticing the body and the breath and then go through a gradual practice of mentally scanning different parts of the body, noticing sensations, urges, thoughts, and anything else that might arise.

Transcript

This is a 10 minute body scan practice and you can begin by coming into a comfortable position, Perhaps lying down or upright in a chair. You can allow the eyes to close or just keep the eyes slightly open. Let the muscles around the eyes relax a little bit. We don't need to worry about focusing in on anything for the next little while. Start by noticing the sounds that are happening in the space around you right now. Sound in my voice, Sounds in the physical room. Perhaps there are also sounds occurring outside of the room and maybe even further away. Notice the temperature of the air right now and the temperature of the body. Maybe it feels warm, Maybe feeling cool, Perhaps just neutral. And also notice the different contact points that the body is making with the ground or the chair. Noticing each of those points of contact. Could be the feet, The bottom, The back. Perhaps observing the solidity of the body and also the surface that it is on. And here we can notice the breath coming in and going out. And notice where in the body you can detect the breath, Abdomen, Chest, Nose. There's no concern with trying to change the breath or really anything about the body's experience right now. We are here as observers. Bring the awareness now to the feet. Noticing the big toes on both feet and the little toes and all the toes in between. Can they be observed even without bringing wiggly movement to them? And then the bottoms of the feet to the tops of the feet, Heels. And if there are socks or shoes on, Is there any sensation relating to those things? And what else is happening with the feet? Is there tingling, Coolness or warmth or anything else that can be detected right now? And moving up to the ankles, To the lower legs, Observing the shins and the calves. And then up to the knees, Noticing the front of both knees, The sides and the back. To the upper legs, Front of the legs, The sides as well as the backs. Notice the entire right leg and left leg. What is it like tuning into the legs right now? Maybe there are things that feel similar about the two legs. Maybe there are things that feel different. What are they like? Heavy, Light, Tingling. Is there pain? Warmth, Coolness. Moving up from the legs to the area of the pelvic bowl and the hips. Is there a sense of all of the organs inside of here? And also observing contact points here of the seat or the hips in the bottom, Making connection with the floor. Moving up to the lower back, Mid-back and upper back. Can the spine be observed here? And is there any discomfort of any kind? Numbness, Tingling, Pain? And does that bring up any urges to move or avoid or judge? Can we hold that awareness in a gentle way, Noticing that that is simply part of this experience right now? Maybe simply noting the back is tingling or this part of the body is hurting. Or even noticing mentally what might be arising. It could be boredom, Agitation. You don't need to push these unpleasant things away. We can observe that is part of what's coming up. Now moving around to the front of the body, Observe the area of the belly and up to the chest. And here there's maybe quite an experience of the breath. So see if there's a detection of the breath and feel free to even place the hand on the belly and abdomen area, Feeling the rising and falling with each part of the breath. And moving up once again to the chest, The clavicles over to the shoulders. Is there a sense here of this upper body? Then moving down both of the arms, Sensing the upper arms to the elbows, Noticing the lower arms. Now the wrists, Hands and all 10 fingers. Are there any sensations in the hands that can be detected right now? Sometimes there might be tingling, Warmth, Coolness. Let the awareness now travel back up the arms to the shoulders, Up to the neck, Observing all the muscles in the neck as well as deep down cervical spine, Connecting the body to the head. Now noticing, Moving up the head to the front of the face, Noticing the chin, The jaw. Is there any clenching going on there? If so, Can that be released a little bit, Letting there be some space between the upper and lower teeth. Moving up the face, The cheeks, Nose, Around the eyes and the forehead. And also tuning into the back of the head here, Including noticing if it is making contact with the floor, Feeling that solid surface underneath. Then up to the top of the head and observing the body in its entirety right now, From the top of the head down to the tips of the toes. From the tips of the toes all the way up to the top of the head. Noticing once again the breathing. And observing those contact points that the body makes with the surface. And from here there can be a slow introduction of movement, Wiggling fingertips and toes, Noticing what it's like to be moving again. And recognizing that whatever it is that's coming up with the self and the body today is something that we can observe with compassion and care, Even if it is difficult. And when you feel ready, You can roll over to one side if you are lying down. Just gently come back into a seated position. And if the eyes are closed, Feel free to look around the space and observe some things in the room around. And that concludes today's body scan practice. Actually a couple minutes longer than 10 minutes. Thank you for your practice and may you be well.

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