Metta Day | Guided Body-Scan Meditation Part 1

Part 1 of a 3 part guided body-scan meditation series. In part 1, I introduce you to the basics of the technique. I also give you examples of how it can help you in your daily life. May you all be successful.

Transcript

Today we'll be doing a body scan meditation.

This is to increase our awareness and develop our sensitivity to our physical bodily sensations so we can see that they're all impermanent.

Every moment of our life we're experiencing some sensation or the other,

But most of us have become ignorant to the process of how these sensations govern our life.

Our true nature is to arise and pass away,

But we're unable to notice this truth and we convince ourselves that they're going to last forever and we always end up becoming overwhelmed by them and this creates our unhappiness.

Whenever we become sad or angry,

We think that it's because of some external cause.

So and so said like this or so and so did like that and now we're unhappy.

But as you develop in your meditation practice,

You'll eventually reach the point where it becomes very clear that you're not actually reacting to anything outside of yourself.

You're only reacting to the sensations you feel inside your body.

For example,

You overhear someone talking about politics.

They have opposing beliefs as you and you start to generate anger.

You start thinking to yourself,

How can this person be so stupid?

You immediately start labeling them with any negative stereotype you can think of and now you've lost the balance of your mind.

You think that it's the person who's made you angry,

But the truth is that there's a process going on inside you that's gone unnoticed.

When you heard this person's words,

Your perceptive part of your mind gave an evaluation that these words are very bad words.

This created unpleasant sensation in you and you started to experience heat,

Tension,

Pressure,

Fear,

Shortness of breath,

And so on.

Your old habit pattern is to react to these sensations with the attitude of,

I don't like this or make it stop.

You become very imbalanced and continue perpetuating this fear and anger.

This body scan technique will allow you to become aware of the many different types of sensations we experience from moment to moment and learn to come out of the old habit pattern of blind reaction that's been troubling us our entire life.

When practiced properly,

This will lead to understanding who you are at the deepest level and in daily life,

You will become aware of your sensations and their impermanent nature before you decide to take any kind of action and when we're mindful and decide on what action to take,

It will always be positive.

So let's begin.

Let's begin the first step in developing this awareness.

Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor with your legs crossed.

Keep your neck and your back as straight as possible and allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap.

Feel any tension you might have in your body.

Maybe you feel tension in your hips or maybe in your jaw.

Wherever it is,

Put your attention there and take a deep breath in and as you breathe out,

Release any tension you might have in that area.

Do this for a few breaths.

And good.

Now,

Letting the breath come in and out naturally without trying to control it,

Put your attention to the top of your head.

Feel the entire scalp area and notice any type of sensation you might be experiencing there.

Maybe you feel tightness or an itching sensation.

Maybe you feel pressure or a throbbing sensation.

Whatever you're experiencing,

Just allow it to be there without trying to hold on to it or push it away.

Let's observe.

Good.

Now,

Move your attention to your entire face area and notice any sensation you might be experiencing there.

Maybe you feel dryness or twitching.

Maybe you feel an itch on your nose.

Just let it be without you trying to get in the way.

An itch isn't going to last forever.

It has the nature to arise and pass away,

So there's no need to do anything while our job is just to sit here and just observe.

Move your attention to both of your arms and notice any sensations you might be experiencing there.

Maybe you feel heaviness or lightness.

Maybe you feel pulsation or even fatigue.

Whatever it is,

Just observe.

And remember,

If your mind starts to wander,

Just notice that it's wandered away and calmly bring it back to the sensations you're experiencing in both of your arms.

No need to become frustrated or generate any kind of negativity.

This is the truth of this moment.

Your mind has wandered away.

Just accept it and bring it back to the object of your meditation.

Now move your attention to both of your hands.

Notice any sensation you might be experiencing there.

Now your hands have a lot of nerve endings,

So maybe you're experiencing lots of tingling or vibration.

Maybe your hands are cold or warm or sweaty.

Again,

Just continue to observe every sensation you're experiencing objectively without reacting to it.

Now move your attention to your chest area and your stomach area.

Maybe you're experiencing pressure or tightness in your chest.

Maybe you're experiencing dullness or cramping in your stomach.

Just keep noticing the sensations.

They're there.

This is the truth.

Everything outside of this moment is just imagination.

Just observe.

Now move your attention to your entire back area and notice any sensation you might be experiencing there.

Maybe it's pain or stiffness.

Just remain relaxed.

Just remain balanced and keep breathing in and out naturally.

Now move your attention down to your hip area.

When we become stressed out,

Our conditioned reaction is typically to suppress it.

When we do this,

A lot of the stress we build up ends up being stored in our hips and we might experience lots of tension or tightness there.

A good way to be aware of this is to notice if we're clenching our hips right now.

If you are,

Just notice it and slowly release the tension and notice any sensation,

Any other sensation that might be there.

Now move your attention to both of your legs and notice any sensations you might be experiencing there.

Maybe you're experiencing pain in your knees or numbness in your thighs.

Whatever it is,

Don't react.

Just continue to observe.

Now move your attention lastly to both of your feet.

Take your hands,

Your feet have a lot of nerve endings,

So again,

You might be experiencing lots of vibration or tingling or warmth or coldness.

Whatever you're experiencing,

Just notice it and keep your mind aware and balanced.

You have now finished your first body scan meditation.

For some of you,

This might be the first step you've ever taken in the direction of awakening and self-realization and I congratulate you.

Few are the people who let the world be as it is and begin to explore the reality inside themselves.

So I thank you for giving me the opportunity and sharing this wonderful technique with you and if you enjoyed it,

I encourage you to practice it daily and when you feel ready,

Please check out parts two and three of this series to learn about the technique more in depth.

I wish you all success in your practice.

May you all find your way back home.

Peace and love everyone.

Reviews

Annoying but necessary

Great relaxing voice. I will definitely continue the series. Thank you. 🙏

Awesome. Loved the intro