Body Scan With Gratitude

This Body Scan is inspired by the Total Relaxation practice done at Plum Village, the community of Thich Nhat Hanh where I was a monastic for a number of years. It's perfect for the end of a long day at work or to help you fall asleep. Most people practice this lying down, though sitting up can work too. Just find a position that's comfortable. Then visit each part of the body not only with mindfulness, but appreciation too.

Transcript

You you The practice of total relaxation is typically done lying down on the ground Perhaps on a yoga mat or some cushions You can have a small cushion under your head or your knees or bring a blanket if that makes you comfortable Some people prefer to bend their knees if that's more supportive for their backs and you can always practice this sitting up if that's more supportive for your body to be easeful and relaxed Whatever position you might find yourself in put your hands on your belly And we're gonna take a few deep breaths breathing in Letting the belly the rib cage the chest expand all the way into the back and the sides And exhale letting it out completely Give yourself a few more deep full breaths Perhaps reminding your body what this is like if it has forgotten And Especially letting at each exhalation Be a time of release a time to release any extra thoughts any extra emotion Any extra physical tension that's ready to be dropped Every exhalation is a chance to let go After these few deep breaths then you can bring your hands back to the ground Next to you palms up if that's comfortable or perhaps fold it in your lap if you're sitting up and Let the breath return to a natural easeful rhythm Not needing to control anything not Creating a special breath just letting the breath breathe itself Letting the body breathe itself Inviting in a state of ease as much as possible We're gonna take a journey through the body exploring it with affectionate curiosity Exploring it as if it's the first time These bodies have been Experienced for each moment is a new moment So bring awareness into the top of the head And notice whatever is present is there tingling or numbness Coolness or warmth Tension flow pulse Just explore what is life like right now in the top of the head?

Moving into the left side of the sky Moving into the left side of the scalp and the ear what sensations are present Into the back of the head may be resting on the ground Probably different temperature sensations probably different pressure sensations Maybe not Into the right side of the scalp and the ear Not looking for anything special just meeting reality as it is right now without any resistance Knowing that whenever the mind wanders and it will for most of us at some point There's no problem.

We just notice this is part of the experience And then when we're ready bring attention back to the part of the body That's being explored and dividing awareness into the forehead Is there tension or ease Tingling pulsing flow numbness Into the innermost part of the body Numbness To the eyebrows the eyeballs and all the little muscles around the eyes that sometimes hold a lot of tension Sometimes they don't Maybe one side feels different from the other Just explore with this affectionate curiosity Coming into explore the nose,

Maybe there's a lot of sensation in the nostrils,

Maybe not Into the cheeks The mouth the tongue The teeth is there sensation in the teeth or not Exploring the jaw the chin The throat Perhaps feeling air move in and out here.

Maybe not The left side of the neck The back side of the neck The right side of the neck Meeting the present moment experience just as it is not changing anything or looking for anything special Inviting awareness into the shoulders Sometimes a place of a lot of tension,

Sometimes not Into the upper arms and the armpits When was the last time you paid attention to your armpits?

Maybe this is a new experience Maybe one side feels different from the other Moving down the upper arms into the elbows Into the lower arms Exploring the wrists What sensations present themselves in the wrists right now Into the palms the backs of the palms and the insides of the palms Into all the fingers noticing what sensations are present in all ten fingers Maybe not much,

Maybe a lot Maybe it's different from one side to the other And then inviting one's attention to the upper chest,

The collar bones and the sternum The front of the rib cage and the breasts Into the diaphragm Breathing in and out there's probably a fair bit of sensation here as the chest expands to breathe in and releases to breathe out Bringing attention to explore the belly Maybe food is digesting,

Maybe not Into the waist,

Perhaps there's a little extra pressure from clothing here,

A waistband of sorts,

The front of the waist The lower belly,

Abdomen Into the pubic bone,

The pelvis,

The genitals,

The hips Noticing whatever sensation is present or not And then bringing awareness up into the shoulder blades in the back,

The upper back,

Maybe resting on the floor Maybe there's warmth here,

More pressure than other parts of the body What does that feel like right now?

Maybe it's changing,

So keep exploring Into the mid-back,

The floating ribs and the sides of the torso,

The spine The back of the waist The buttocks,

The low back and the hips Simply exploring with affectionate curiosity or with kindness and attentiveness And whenever the mind wanders off,

Notice that with kindness and attentiveness And then bring awareness back as we'll explore the thighs,

This place of big muscles that do so much work Perhaps noticing sensation more at the skin level or deeper into the muscle level,

Maybe even into the bone Noticing if sensation is similar or different from the left side and the right side Moving from the tops of the thighs,

Mid thighs,

Lower thighs Into the knees Tops of knees,

Backs of knees,

Sides Into the calves and the shin bones Seeing if there is pulsing or tingling,

Numbness,

Flow,

Tension,

Heat,

Coolness,

Any sensations at that raw level Moving down to explore the ankles Meeting life as it is in these very specific places,

Into the heels and the feet All the way into the toes,

Perhaps noticing sensations specific to each toe or maybe areas where it's just a mass of vibration Without so much distinction between one toe and the other.

See what it's like right now Now we're going to travel back up the body with a slightly different focus We're going to take this time to perhaps shift our relationship with these bodies from what is often one of perhaps neglect or ignoring or taking these bodies for granted and working them hard To see if there's some space to cultivate some gratitude and appreciation,

Some love and care for these bodies Knowing they are impermanent,

Knowing they are changing,

Not even needing to identify them as ourselves We can still offer gratitude for all the work,

For the life that we get to live through these bodies So with attention and awareness dwelling in the feet,

The ankles and legs Expand awareness to all that legs and feet allow you to do,

Perhaps to walk or run or play sports,

To move around in the world And these legs and feet are the product of tens and hundreds of thousands of years of evolution It's quite remarkable that we have legs that allow us to stand upright,

To walk and sometimes run,

To jump There are miracles sitting on these bodies that we often just take for granted And even if our legs and feet don't work quite the way we might want them to,

There's still so much that's going well It's worthy,

It's important,

It is precious to spend time cultivating a sense of gratitude or at least seeing if it's possible To feel some gratitude for our feet and ankles,

Legs and knees,

All the way up into the hips And if it feels genuine and easeful,

Allowing a half smile in the heart,

Perhaps also on the lips,

To help send that love and appreciation to the legs and feet and hips And if that feels like too much,

Then perhaps simply exploring the possibility of what would it be like to feel some appreciation for this part of the body Inviting awareness to move up from the hips into the pelvis,

The abdomen and chest This amazing part of the body that houses so many of our organs,

It's where digestion,

Respiration,

Excretion,

Reproduction of so many functions that are so vital to life Breathing,

Heartbeat,

All these things happen here,

So take a little tour of the internal organs,

Maybe you haven't thought about them,

Perhaps ever or not in a long time And see if it's possible to awaken a gentle smile in the lips and the heart and offer that smile,

Offer a sense of kindness,

Appreciation to the intestines,

To the stomach The liver and spleen and pancreas,

All these internal organs,

Kidneys and colon Up into the upper chest where the heart and the lungs reside,

Is there space,

Is there a possibility for some gratitude For the heart and lungs that do their job with no conscious effort needed,

They keep us alive day in and day out It's so easy to take this for granted,

But the moment we have a touch of,

A possibility of heart disease or lung disease then our relationship to these organs can change dramatically But we don't have to wait to be ill to start appreciating them,

We can find appreciation right now and even if there is illness in some of our internal organs If we're still alive then there's more going well than going wrong and just taking this time to shift attention to what is either going well or an overall general sense of gratitude Can actually be healing for the body,

Can be very healing for the mind,

For we have this natural negativity bias to pay attention to and remember things that aren't going well And it's a safety measure from our evolutionary psychology,

So it has good reason and yet it doesn't keep us happy and it's not balanced So this time of getting in touch with appreciation,

Gratitude,

Care and kindness,

Shifting this attitude we have towards these bodies is so important So see if there's space for a bit more love to flood the internal organs of the torso Maybe to let that spill out into the rib cage and the spine,

The flesh there,

Whatever size it is,

Sometimes bellies especially can be a space of feeling shame if the size is different than maybe we want it to be Yet in this moment it's just sensation and in this moment it's perfectly fine,

Is it possible to at least explore a sense of okayness with the shape of our bellies,

Our abdomens Whatever the muscle tone is,

Whatever the size,

Dropping the ideas of what bodies should be like and just coming into the felt experience that has no shape And diffusing these sensations with care,

Kindness and if that doesn't feel possible then exploring the possibility of what would it be like to offer care and kindness and to diffuse the torso with gratitude and love Moving into the arms and shoulders,

Elbows,

Wrists,

Fingers,

All the way down to the fingertips Again this is another precious zone that we so often take for granted,

So much of the work that we do to perhaps cook and clean most of the work that might be a job or a hobby Caring for children,

Caring for loved ones,

Caring for our own bodies happens with these arms.

Lifting and moving and carrying and scrubbing and typing and sometimes playing games and sports and doing creative endeavors are all possible because of these hands and arms and shoulders Just the miracle of an elbow is enough to to astound ourselves.

How would we survive without elbows?

Yet have we given our elbows a moment of appreciation,

Of gratitude,

Of wonder See if that's something you want to do right now.

See if it's possible to bring a smile to the lips and the heart and to let a gentle contentment,

A gentle okayness,

A gentle appreciation Suffuse the shoulders,

Arms,

Elbows,

Wrists,

And hands No matter what capacity these limbs have,

There is something going well that is worthy of sending care and appreciation to even if in some ways it doesn't maybe work quite the way it used to or we hope it might Take this time to pay attention to what's going well If you've ever broken an arm or sprained a finger,

You'll be quite aware of how difficult life becomes without the full use of these limbs And we don't have to wait until there's been an accident or illness to then have that contrast,

Spark,

And eventual appreciation if capacity comes back to its previous state So the smile to the arms and shoulders and hands then allow awareness to come up into the neck,

The head,

The scalp,

The face So many amazing organs are also living here.

Eyes that allow us to see to varying degrees.

Ears that allow us to hear.

You couldn't do this practice if ears didn't function Mouths that breathe and eat and speak and maybe sing,

Maybe laugh,

Sometimes shout or cry How amazing it is to have mouths,

To be able to express oneself with a voice.

Noses that are sometimes blocked,

Sometimes clear,

Allowing us to breathe and also able to smell and enjoy delicious aromas as well as pick up scents of maybe something rotting that alerts us to danger.

So precious,

These noses Have we taken time to appreciate how amazing it is to have these organs,

Whatever degree they're able to function See if it's possible to find a gentle warmth or perhaps an overflowing joy and send that to suffuse to fill the mouth and the voice box The ears,

The nose,

The eyes,

Into the forehead and the whole of the head,

The scalp,

Maybe into the brain.

What an amazing organ we have in the brain There's the brain between the ears and at the same time science is discovering more and more that there are multiple sort of brains throughout the body that our nervous systems are processing so much information in many different locations And yet the location between the ears is a precious one.

And maybe our memories work well,

Maybe they sometimes forget things,

Maybe we're able to learn things and do work that is meaningful or even work that's not meaningful and it allows us to pay the bills and take care of our families That in and of itself is amazing.

That in and of itself is reason enough to rejoice So take a few more breaths and see if it's possible to send a little more care and appreciation to the neck and the head and all that's contained there Taking a few more breaths opening to the whole experience of the body Seeing if it's possible to let a sense of gratitude and care grow a little more full,

A little more complete,

Suffuse a little more fully into every nook and cranny of this physical body.

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For the last few minutes of this practice you're invited to perhaps find one area or a few areas in the body that needs some extra care perhaps due to illness or pain or any other reason And send your attention there with as much love and kindness as you can muster,

Seeing if it's possible to meet discomfort and dis-ease with kindness Most of the time we experience aversion when there is illness and distress and discomfort.

Right now is it possible to offer some care and pure kindness to a place of need in the body And if there isn't a particular place of need then just let awareness suffuse the whole body and continue to cultivate the gratitude or simply rest in the breath So I'll offer one song to close Silence is an ocean,

Language is a river,

A hundred voices inside saying that's enough for now When the ocean calls to you,

Don't walk to the river,

Listen to the ocean,

That's enough for now Silence is an ocean,

Language is a river,

A hundred voices inside saying that's enough for now When the ocean calls to you,

Don't walk to the river,

Listen to the ocean,

That's enough for now Silence is an ocean,

Language is a river,

A hundred voices inside saying that's enough for now So this is the close of our practice of total relaxation You're welcome to bring movement back into the body by wiggling fingers and toes and maybe rocking legs back and forth And if you like you can bring your right fingertips to your left shoulder and then your left fingertips to your right shoulder Give them a little squeeze,

Give yourself a hug saying thank you for doing this practice If it feels good you can curl one knee and then the other knee into the chest Give them a little rock or circles,

Whatever feels good on the back If it's supportive roll over to one side and when you're ready gently and slowly come back up to a seating posture if you're not already there

Reviews

Beautiful meditation, delivered with your usual kindness and uniqueness.