30 Minute Body Scan For Presence And Ease

By bringing an easy curiosity to sensations in the body, we can create a sense of space and ease. And, over time, as we establish a more stable connection to body sensations this helps us to be more present in daily life, detect stress more easily as it arises, and restore balance in the heart, body and mind.

Transcript

This is a 30 minute body scan exercise which strengthens mindful awareness and a connection to the physical body.

The body is a great stress detector,

A great ally in resilience,

And a stable connection with body sensations can help us to calm down turbulent thoughts and emotions when we want to.

So starting by finding a comfortable posture either lying down on a bed or yoga mat or seated in a chair in a place where you're not likely to be interrupted.

Maybe leaving your phone outside or turning it off and letting go right now of what you were just doing or what you'll do next and letting the eyes close if that's comfortable in your particular setting.

And if you're lying down letting the feet fall away from each other,

Arms at the sides with the palms up or down.

If you're likely to fall asleep having the eyes open or sitting upright in a chair would help.

And during this practice we're going to explore physical sensations in the various parts of the body one by one.

So starting out now by sensing into physical sensations in your body right now.

Noticing what's here today right now.

And feeling the full length and breadth of your body,

The full volume and weight.

And seeing what it's like to feel into these sensations.

You might notice pressure where you're contacting the floor.

There might be areas of movement say with breathing.

There might be tingling in areas or temperature differences warm or cool.

Could be anything.

Maybe in areas you don't notice anything and that's normal too.

And so during this exercise it's likely that many thoughts will come up but we'll be redirecting attention back to physical sensations in the body.

It's like a football or soccer game in a large stadium and physical sensations could be likened to what's happening in the game on the field.

Thoughts are like the sportscasters up in the skybox.

A continuous running commentary on what's happening in the game,

The players.

And so we won't try to shut out these thoughts or commentaries.

This is a natural part of our experience.

And at times in other exercises we will intentionally turn our attention to these.

But for now we're going to train our ability to aim our attention where we want to keep it there.

And we're also training a connection to body sensations right now.

So directing your attention back to physical sensations in your body.

Seeing what you notice.

And noticing with a light touch bringing in an easy curiosity like a scientist or an anthropologist.

And so turning your attention now to the specific sensations associated with breathing.

Studying those for a moment.

The sensations of the in-breath followed by the out-breath.

Where do you feel this most distinctly in the body?

Where else do you feel it?

And if you'd care to,

Placing your hands on your belly and feeling the movement of the breath under your hands.

Letting your belly fully expand on the in-breath.

We often breathe in a constricted way,

Especially when we get tense.

And letting the belly expand and the breath be fuller can bring in a sense of relaxation and ease.

And so now letting the breath return to its natural rhythm.

No need to change it in any way.

And leaving the hands on the belly if you'd like or putting them back at your sides.

And letting go of the sensations of breathing.

And we'll direct attention like shining a flashlight down into the feet.

Specifically to both heels.

Feeling the physical sensations there.

Maybe contact with the ground.

And spreading attention now down the bottoms of the feet.

Feeling into the arches and balls of the feet.

And seeing what you feel there.

And now into the toes.

Noticing if you feel the toes or not.

Letting your attention now wrap around the sides and top of the feet.

Including the ankles.

And just seeing what you notice.

What physical sensations you notice in both of your feet right now.

Maybe there's the touch of clothing or air against the skin.

There might be tingling,

Pulsing,

Maybe nothing.

And if the mind wanders,

Just noticing that.

No need to make it a problem.

This is just what minds do.

And gently bringing attention back.

Back to wherever we are.

In this case we're noticing physical sensations in the feet.

Next we'll scan up into the lower legs.

The shins and the calves.

Shining the light of awareness in this area.

Seeing what you notice.

And coming up into the knees.

Kneecaps in the front.

Does it feel different in the back of the knees?

Moving now up into the thighs.

Moving now up into the thighs.

Large muscles in the front and back.

Noticing surface sensations.

And deeper sensations.

Sometimes there might be memories with a particular body part.

And when we notice that,

We just come back to how the area actually feels.

Of course at any time if it feels like too much or overwhelming,

You can move attention either to your breath.

Just staying with the breath.

Or you can even open your eyes for a moment and decide when you want to join us back wherever we are in this body scan.

And so we'll move now up into the hips.

Feeling up into both of your hips.

Into the hip joints.

And now we'll open up,

Broaden the scope of focus to include the entire legs and feet from the hip joints all the way down to the toes.

Feeling sensations in the full length and width volume of both of your legs.

Some people find it's helpful to imagine they can breathe into these areas.

You could try that.

See how it works for you.

We'll move up into the pelvis area.

We'll start where there's contact with the buttocks and the ground.

And noticing sensations in the pelvis,

The pelvic basin.

All the organs in this area.

Organs of elimination and reproduction inside.

Maybe even a sense of movement in the lower belly with breathing right now.

Expanding attention now to include the entire abdomen,

The entire belly.

What do you notice in this area right now?

Sometimes with particular areas of the body judgments come up and when that happens we just notice it and return to the felt sensations.

So now we'll turn our attention to the base of the spine,

The tailbone area.

Noticing what sensations are there right now.

Moving up the lower back vertebrae by vertebrae to the small vertebrae.

Moving up the lower back vertebrae by vertebrae to the small of the back.

The mid back.

The mid back.

And the upper back including the shoulder blades.

And opening now to the entire back.

What sensations do you notice here in the whole back?

Sometimes we come to areas in the body that are tense or painful and we notice that and stay with it.

Maybe using the breath to breathe into a tight spot.

Getting curious about the actual sensations.

If it gets to be too much we can move our attention away to the breath for a little bit or to an area of the body that feels better.

And come back as we can to investigate but staying curious.

Letting a friendly curiosity guide the process.

And so now we're noticing sensations in the back and we'll come to the rib cage.

Peeling the expansion and contraction.

Now including the entire rib cage around the sides and even front so bringing in the sensations in the chest.

And now the entire chest.

Skin sensations.

Body sensations.

Bones and muscles.

Deeper sensations of the lungs maybe even the heart.

And if the mind wanders just coming back with a light touch.

Simply rejoining wherever we are and following the instructions as best you can.

So now we'll bring attention down to the hands.

Feeling into your hands.

Maybe even feeling the individual fingers or the parts like the front or the back.

There might be tingling,

Pressure,

Contact,

Position.

Coming up into the wrists.

And forearms.

The elbows.

And now scanning into the upper arms.

The biceps in the front and the triceps in the back.

And including now the shoulder joints.

And now we'll come up into the shoulders and where they join the back of the neck.

This is a common area where many of us carry tension.

If you find tension anywhere in the body during this scan,

Feel free to let it relax if it does so.

But tension doesn't always relax so most importantly we learn to bring an interest and care with any remaining tension.

And let it be.

Noticing what the actual physical sensations are like.

And how they change over time.

So coming up now into the back of the neck.

Including the front of the neck.

Surface.

Deeper.

Perhaps feeling breath swirling inside.

And coming up into the head,

The scalp.

And the ears,

The outside parts.

Inside parts.

Noticing that we hear in this area.

Sounds from the outside.

Sounds on the inside of our body.

Coming up into the forehead and temples and eyes.

Another area where we often hold stress.

Letting them be soft.

Now the nose,

Outside parts.

And what it feels like on the inside of the nose.

Including the mouth.

The lips.

Tongue.

Maybe even taste.

And now the jaw from the chin up through the sides to the joints on either side.

Checking in with this easy curiosity.

And just noticing what's here right now.

And from this very specific investigation we'll widen the field of awareness slowly,

Little by little to include the whole body.

So opening up now to the face.

Including the head.

This is like going from a spotlight to a floodlight.

Expanding even further to include the neck and shoulder and arms.

The chest.

Belly,

Pelvis.

And now the hips and thighs.

And legs and feet.

So breathing in as you expand this field of awareness to notice physical sensations in the entire body.

The fullness,

The full length and width and weight of the entire body.

And different sensations.

There might be movement or stillness.

Tension or ease.

And so for the last few moments until the end of this exercise just breathing and noticing all the sensations in the field of the body.

Sensations of being alive.

And so for the last few moments until the end of this exercise just breathing and noticing all the sensations in the field of the body.

And so for the last few moments until the end of this exercise just breathing and noticing all the sensations in the field of the body.

And so for the last few moments until the end of this exercise just breathing and noticing all the sensations in the field of the body.

And so if you'd like to begin to move a bit maybe wiggling your fingers or toes or stretching however the body would like.

Opening the eyes when you're ready.

Taking in awareness of your surroundings.

And noticing how it is for you right now after having done this exercise.

And in a moment taking your time to get up.

Maybe rolling onto your side for a moment.

Then pushing up when you're ready.

And taking your time.

Then moving on with your day.

Reviews

Much thanks Mick for your beautiful body scan.

So naturally guided with a sense of ease. Lovely voice. One I'll return to. Thank you.

Excellent pacing and guidance!

Really nicely paced. Thank you! I will return😊😊😊