Body Scan For Body Awareness

This is a 30-minute guided body scan meditation for cultivating moment-to-moment awareness of the body. It can help reduce stress, relieve chronic pain, enhance concentration, and increase the body's ability to rest and sleep. Listen to this daily at night or in the morning to help increase a sense of well-being and connection to your body's innate capacity to heal.

Transcript

Welcome to the Bodhisgala Meditation.

Congratulate yourself for taking this time to be with yourself fully as you cultivate moment to moment awareness with the body.

Please see this time as a nourishing gift to yourself to connect with your own inner sources of strength and healing.

The time that you deserve to give yourself some positive energy and attention.

Please listen to the guided instructions as best as you can,

Letting go of judgmental or critical thoughts.

And please accept how you find yourself in this present moment.

There is not a right or wrong way of being.

Just be open to your experience with kindness and compassion.

It is best to find a comfortable position in a warm space.

You may lie down on a bed or on a mat on the floor.

You can also sit in a chair supported if lying down is not comfortable.

Let your eyes close gently if that feels comfortable.

Allow your arms to rest on either side of the body.

Uncross your legs and let your feet naturally fall away from each other.

If you feel any strain on the lower back or neck,

You can slide another blanket,

Towel or small pillow under your knees or neck to reduce any tension.

And at any time,

If the position that you have chosen begins to feel uncomfortable,

You are welcome to gently shift or move into another position.

Now I invite you to bring your attention to the fact that you are breathing.

I direct your attention to your belly,

Feeling the sensations of simply breathing.

How the belly expands with on an in-breath and how the belly deflates on an out-breath.

Expanding,

Rising with each in-breath and lowering,

Softening with each out-breath.

Feeling the rhythmic movement of the breath,

Like waves on the ocean,

One after another,

Rising,

Falling.

And with each out-breath,

Just letting go.

Letting your body become heavy as it sinks a bit more into the mat,

Into the ground below you.

Now I invite you to move your attention away from the belly and to bring it to both of your feet.

Can you feel the sensations in the feet?

Taking a moment and feeling the heels of both feet on the floor.

Is there a sense of pressure,

The place where they make contact?

Notice if there's any sensations in the soles of the feet,

The tops of the feet.

Just noticing.

Is there tingling,

Vibrations,

Warmth,

Coolness,

Tightness?

Now bringing your attention to the little toes,

The big toes,

And the toes in between.

Just tuning in.

The sensations may be subtle or they may be strong.

Or there may be a blank,

No sensations at all.

It's not so much thinking about the feet,

But noticing if there are sensations present.

Or very little or none at all.

Just being with them and letting them be the center of the awareness.

And as you breathe in,

Just imagine that the breath is moving from the lungs and the belly down the legs to your feet.

And when you breathe out,

The breath is moving back up from your feet,

Up your legs,

Up your abdomen,

Ultimately out of your nose.

So once again,

Breathing down into your feet and breathing out from your feet.

And when you are ready,

Just on the next out-breath,

Let go of your feet completely,

Allowing this region of your body to dissolve from your mind's eye.

Now I invite you to bring your attention to the sensations in your ankles and your lower legs.

Just tuning into the sensations present in both ankles,

Moving up into the lower legs.

Can you have a sense of the calf muscles,

The shin bones,

The skin on both lower legs?

Once again,

On an in-breath,

Breathing into the lower legs and ankles.

And an out-breath,

Just letting go of this region and letting them dissolve in your mind's eye.

Now bring your attention to both knees.

Can you feel the sensations in the back of the knees,

The sides,

The top of the kneecaps?

Can you feel deep within the joints of the knees?

Do you notice any vibrations,

Pulsing,

Tightness?

Just paying attention moment to moment to the knees and deep into the joints.

Breathing into the knees.

And an out-breath,

Letting go of the knees.

Now bring your attention to the thighs.

Can you feel the length of the upper thighs,

Right up to the hip and grind?

Is there a sense of weight,

Pressure,

Lightness of the thigh muscles?

Can you feel the femur,

The bone,

Deep within the thighs?

When you are ready,

Breathing into the thighs and on your next out-breath,

Letting go of the thighs.

At any time,

If you find that your mind has wandered off the place of the body that I'm guiding,

Just gently notice that you are off.

And gently bring your attention back to the region of the body where I am guiding.

Now bring your attention to the pelvis.

Can you feel the sit bones,

Right and left?

The entire width of the pelvis,

The hip bones on either side,

The genitals,

Subtle sensations or no sensations.

There may be a blank in this region.

Once again,

When you breathe in,

Can you envision filling the pelvis with the breath?

And on your next out-breath,

Letting the pelvis soften,

Open,

Sink more in the mat.

Letting yourself be totally present in each moment.

Now,

Direct your attention to the lower back.

Taking a moment to feel into this region.

Bring a sense of gentleness and kindness to the lower back,

Which can be an area of sensitivity.

What sensations are present?

Once again,

On an in-breath,

Filling the lower back with breath.

And on the out-breath,

Envisioning tension leaving the lower back.

And on your next out-breath,

Letting go of this region,

Letting it dissolve in the mind's eye.

Now bring your attention to your mid and upper back,

Feeling the sensations in this region.

Can you feel the slight movement of the rib cage expanding and contracting with the breath?

Can you let go of any tension or fatigue,

Letting it move out with each out-breath?

And once again,

Breathing into the mid and upper back.

And breathing out and letting go.

As you let yourself sink deeper into stillness and restfulness.

Accepting yourself with compassion for how you are in this moment.

Appreciating your efforts to bring your attention back to this body,

To this sensation,

To this moment,

With as much kindness as you can.

And now,

Bring your attention once again to the belly.

Noticing how when the breath comes in,

The belly expands.

And how when you breathe out,

The belly softens and lowers.

Now,

Allow the awareness to expand from the belly to the chest,

To the diaphragm,

To the lungs.

And experiencing the chest as it expands and contracts with each inhalation and each exhalation.

Bring awareness to the heart center.

Tuning into the rhythmic beating of the heart deep in the chest.

Sending oxygen and vitality.

Nourishing every region in the body.

Just experience your chest and belly as you lay here.

The entirety of the front of the body.

Breathing down into the chest and belly.

And on your next out-breath,

Letting go of this region.

Letting it dissolve in your mind's eye as well.

Now,

Let's bring your attention to your fingertips.

Both hands.

Becoming aware of the sensations in the tips of the fingers.

Just feeling them.

Is there a pulsing warmth?

Now,

The backs of the fingers.

The fronts of the fingers.

Now,

Letting the field of awareness expand to the palms of your hands.

To the backs of the hands.

To the wrists.

Perhaps feeling the pulsations in the wrists.

Now,

Becoming aware of the forearms and elbows.

Any and all sensations.

Now,

Allowing your field of awareness to include your upper arms.

Right up to your armpits and shoulders.

Shoulders can hold tension and fatigue.

Just experience your shoulders as they are.

Breathe into them.

And on the out-breath,

Let the shoulders soften.

Breathing in once again.

And letting the breath travel all the way from the shoulders down the arms to the fingertips.

And as you breathe out,

Letting go of the fingertips,

Arms and shoulders.

Letting yourself sink even deeper into a state of relaxed awareness.

Just being present to each moment.

Letting go the best you can of whatever thoughts or impulses to move or to do something else that arises.

Just experiencing yourself in this moment as you are.

Now,

Let's bring the focus of our attention to the neck,

The back of the neck,

The throat.

Experiencing the entirety of this region.

When you swallow.

When you breathe.

So breathing down into the neck and on the out-breath,

Letting go of the neck and throat.

And letting it relax and dissolve in the mind's eyes.

Now becoming aware of the face versus the jaw.

This may be an area of tension.

Just experience it as it is.

Noticing any sensations in the hinge region of the jaws.

The chin.

Breathing into this region and breathing out.

Seeing if the jaw can soften.

Releasing.

And on the next out-breath,

Let go of the chin and the jaw and let it dissolve in the mind's eye.

Now become aware of your lips,

Mouth.

The interior of the mouth,

Teeth,

Gums,

Tongue.

The roof of the mouth.

The back of the mouth.

Just noticing sensations present and breathing into this region and breathing out.

Bring awareness to your cheeks.

Noticing sensations.

And let this region dissolve as well on your next out-breath.

Now bring awareness to your nose.

The air traveling through the nostrils.

Aware of breathing.

Be aware of your eyes,

Eyebrows.

And the space between the eyebrows.

The eyelids.

And if there's any tension here,

Let it leave on an out-breath.

Allow your temples to relax and dissolve as you experience the sensations on the side of your head.

Breathing in and out through your ears.

And letting them go as well on an out-breath.

Becoming aware of the forehead.

Just breathing with your forehead,

Letting it soften.

Breathing in and nourishing your face.

Asking it to relax and dissolve into relaxation and stillness.

Now imagine that you can come up from below the entirety of your face.

Breathing with your whole face.

As if you're breathing from underneath of the face.

Let it dissolve into neutral,

Not working.

Just letting it be.

Still and neutral.

Relaxed and at peace.

Now moving to the back of the head.

Feeling the weight of the skull.

The cranium.

The top of the head.

There may be a sense of pressure,

Sense of weight,

Vibration.

Just taking a moment to breathe into this region and breathing out.

Now bring your focus to the very top of your head.

Can you envision the soft spot right on top of the crown of the head?

That there is a small circle about the size of a quarter.

Now imagine this soft spot can open like a blowhole of a whale.

So when you breathe in,

The breath travels upwards and moves out of the top of the soft spot that opens.

And as you breathe out,

Your breath moves right back down through the entirety of your body,

Out the bottoms of the feet.

So once again,

Breathing in,

The breath moves up towards the crown of the head and out.

And on the out breath,

The breath moves back down through the entire length of the body and out through the bottoms of the feet.

Breathing in again,

The breath moves back up from the bottoms of your feet,

Up through the entire length of the body and out the top of your head.

And as you breathe out,

The breath travels once again down through the entire length of the body and out the soles of your feet.

Just envision the breath flowing and moving out of the top of the head and then moving all the way down the entire length of the body,

Flowing out from the bottoms of your feet.

Just do this at your own pace,

Breathing with the whole body,

Sensing the breath flowing throughout the entire length of the body.

The whole body breathing.

Being aware of this flow of energy,

Flow of breath.

Allowing your muscles to be in a deep state of relaxation.

And experiencing your entire body breathing.

And when you are ready,

Feeling the body as a whole from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet.

In a state of stillness and deep relaxation,

Sinking deeper and deeper into a state of well-being.

Feeling complete,

Feeling whole in this moment.

Allowing your muscles to be in a deep state of relaxation.

Allowing your entire body breathing.

Allowing your entire body breathing.

Allowing your entire body breathing.

Allowing your entire body breathing.

Reviews

Wonderful and spacious. Thank you 🙏🏽

A wonderful body scan meditation. Thank you.

Lovely voice and very nice body scan.

One of my favourite body scans so far. Perfect pace, love the way you use your voice, will definitely use it many times. Thank you ❤️

Lovely baby scan thank you. Namaste 🙏 ❤️🧘‍♀️

An amazing body scan.
Thank you
Namesta

Thank you 🙏🏾! This was quite thorough and thoughtful 😊!