Body Scan For Relaxation

A peaceful, guided full-body scan with gentle music for insight and relaxation. Rev. Simon Shadowlight explains the process and follows with the meditation.

Transcript

The purpose of this body scan meditation is to help train your ability to focus your attention by scanning the body and to gain a greater awareness of the experience of your body which can lead to deeper insight.

As you scan your body,

If you become aware of tightness,

Constriction,

Pain or some other sensation,

You can respond in one of the following ways.

Simply hold your awareness there and experience or witness whatever it is you are sensing while resisting the urge to mentally process your experience by naming it,

Describing it or otherwise analyzing what may be going on.

Simply be aware.

If there is a sense of tightness or constriction,

You can simply affirm your desire for release and relaxation or you can intentionally tighten that area of the body and then intentionally release and relax that area.

You can also consider dialoguing with that part of the body or simply asking the question,

Is there anything I need to know or do in response to this body sensation or what do I need to be aware of in this moment regarding the sensation?

Let us begin.

Ensure that you are sitting in a comfortable manner in which you feel supported.

You can also,

If you prefer,

Do this meditation lying down.

Begin by bringing your awareness to the very top of your head,

The crown of your head.

Now begin to move your awareness down your head,

Checking in with your forehead,

Noticing if there is any tension and if so,

Releasing it.

Bringing your awareness around the eyes and the upper cheeks.

Moving your awareness to the jaw,

Sensing if there is any constriction or tightness in the jaw and if so,

Releasing it.

Moving your awareness around to the back of the head,

To the place where the neck and the head meet,

Seeing if there is any tension there or lower in the neck where the neck and shoulders meet.

Bringing the awareness around to the front of the neck,

The throat,

Seeing if there is any tightness,

Any sense of a lump in the throat.

Feeling free in this moment to turn the head from side to side,

Move in any way that might help make you more comfortable.

And then bringing the awareness slowly down the spine,

Seeing if there is any tension or any body sensations calling for your awareness,

Moving down through the upper back,

The mid-back,

Down into the lower back,

The area of the lumbar spine.

And again,

Seeing if there is any sense that turning the body or twisting the spine might help to bring some relief if you feel any tension.

Letting the awareness move back up to the right shoulder,

Becoming aware of the shoulder joint and moving the awareness down the right arm,

Noticing if there is any need or desire to reposition the arm,

Bringing the awareness to the elbow,

Down into the forearm.

Into the hand.

Perhaps seeing if you can be aware of the sensation of your thumb.

And then taking the awareness out to the fingers,

Either collectively or taking a moment to see if you can be aware of each individual finger,

Developing your level of concentration to the extent that you could attend to the sensation of a single finger.

Now bring your awareness back up the forearm,

Through the elbow,

The upper arm.

Now across the shoulders to the left shoulder,

Again sensing if there is any tension,

Any tightness,

Allowing the awareness to move down the upper arm,

Through the elbow,

The lower arm.

Seeing again if there is any desire or need to reposition the arm,

To move it in any way.

Bringing the awareness into the hand,

Into the left thumb.

And again taking the awareness to the fingers,

Either collectively or seeing if you can focus to the degree of attending to each individual finger.

Bringing the awareness up the left arm,

Through the wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm.

Back into the left shoulder.

And back again to the area of the throat.

And this might be a good opportunity to again simply see if the body needs to be repositioned in any way.

Perhaps the back stretched,

The arms moved.

Returning the attention to the throat.

Take your awareness now down through the front of the torso.

Seeing if there is any tension in the area of the chest.

And taking this moment to very gently see if you can become aware of the beating of your heart within your chest.

This can be difficult to do,

Especially if you are already relaxed and the heart is beating in a very slow and steady manner.

But take this moment to let your attention focus inward and see if you can feel the gentle movement of your heart within your chest.

And now continue moving your awareness down the front of the torso.

The area of the lower ribs,

The area of the solar plexus.

Down into the abdominal area.

Down into the waist.

Bring your awareness to the area of the groin.

Allow your awareness to move around to the buttocks.

See if there is any desire to reposition yourself,

To relieve any tension.

Allow the awareness and the intention to move down the right leg through the large muscles of the upper leg,

Through the knee.

Down through the calf muscles of the lower leg.

Into the ankle.

Into the foot.

And see in this moment if there is any desire or need to reposition the leg,

To stretch the leg,

To rotate the ankles.

Bring your awareness back to the right foot and into the big toe.

And then take your awareness to the other toes,

Again collectively or individually.

Experiment with your ability to laser in your attention on one small part of the body.

Now bring the awareness back up through the ankle,

Through the lower leg,

The knee,

The upper leg.

Move the attention across the pelvis to the left leg,

Into the muscles of the upper leg,

Through the knee,

The calf muscles of the lower leg,

Down into the ankle,

And then the left foot.

And again,

See if there is any need or desire to reposition or move the leg in any way.

Take the awareness into your left big toe.

And then to the rest of your toes on your left foot,

Again either individually or collectively.

And now that we have completed the scan of the body,

Bring the awareness back up to the area of the chest.

The area of the heart.

Simply settle your awareness there for a moment.

And now to conclude,

Take in a big deep breath,

Hold it for a second or two,

And then exhale feeling a great sense of release and relaxation.

And be in peace.

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