Guided Body Scan

This is a guided body scan that starts off with some gentle breathing, focusing on the breath to help quiet and mind and body. It then proceeds to cultivate the breath to relax the body more and more and then to relax each major part of the body.

Transcript

Hi everybody,

Thank you for joining me for a guided body scan.

This can be a great way to start the day or to wind down the day as needed.

So I'd like to invite you now to get comfortable just finding a place to sit down and relax.

It could be a chair or a couch or a sofa or maybe you're just sitting outdoors on a park bench listening with your earbuds.

And to begin,

I'd like to invite you just to get comfortable and as you sit into your meditation posture,

Just leaning in and allowing your body to rest,

Allowing your body to settle,

Allowing your body to be in this moment.

Maybe you're feeling the heaviness of your body as you sit down and just allow,

Allow your body to relax.

Maybe you can feel the weight of your hands,

The position of your feet as you settle into your meditation posture.

Meditation is a way to be more in the moment and as we sit today,

You're going to notice that your thoughts will arise.

You might be thinking about yesterday or today or tomorrow.

That is simply the nature of the mind doing its thing.

So when thoughts do arise for today's session,

All that I ask is that you be calm and gentle with yourself.

If you feel a thought pulling on yourself,

Let it do its thing.

But as soon as you catch yourself,

Just gently return to the breath as your object of meditation.

And so to get started,

I'd like to invite you now just to take a big,

Nice,

Slow,

Deep breath.

Just breathing in nice and deep,

Breathing out,

Breathing in again nice and deep,

Breathing out,

And just taking a few more deep breaths on your own as you settle into as you settle into our guided body scan.

And as we get started,

I'd like to invite you just to work with me for a little bit,

Following the breath as our object of awareness.

Just paying attention to the breath now as you breathe in and as you breathe out,

Noticing,

For example,

As you breathe in today,

How you are breathing in and how you are breathing out.

For example,

Is the in-breath going through your nose or is it going through your mouth?

Is the out-breath going through your nose or going through your mouth?

Just observing the breath as it is,

As your object of awareness,

As your object of meditation.

You might even notice how fast or how slowly you are breathing in and breathing out right now.

Maybe you even want to count the number of seconds it takes to take an in-breath and an out-breath.

Maybe it takes you three seconds to breathe in,

Or four seconds,

Or five seconds.

And as you breathe out,

You might notice the number of seconds it takes to breathe out.

However many seconds it takes,

Just simply observing the breath as it is,

As your object of meditation,

As your object of focus.

You might even notice the space or the pause between the in-breath and the out-breath,

That gentle,

Quiet space where there is no breath,

In between the inhale and the exhale.

Just breathing in and just breathing out.

Maybe if your breathing is still enough,

You can even hear the pulse and rhythm of your heartbeat.

Maybe you can feel the fabric of your clothing gently shift as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

And as you breathe in and breathe out,

You might even notice a difference in the temperature of the in-breath compared to the out-breath.

Maybe you notice the in-breath is a little cooler than the out-breath.

Just breathing in,

Just breathing out.

And as we continue to breathe in and breathe out today,

I'd like to invite you,

As you breathe in,

Using your imagination,

To imagine that as you breathe in,

You are breathing in cool,

Nourishing,

Relaxing energy on the in-breath.

And as you breathe out,

You are breathing out anything that you need to let go of.

Maybe you are breathing out stress,

Maybe you are breathing out discomfort.

Just breathing out and letting go.

Breathing in nourishing oxygen on the inhale,

And breathing out and just letting go on the exhale.

Letting go of stress,

Just letting go.

We're going to use this in-breath and out-breath technique now for our guided body scan.

And we're going to start our body scan focusing at the very,

Very top of our head,

The very crown of our head.

Some people say this is where we connect with our higher selves.

Let me invite you just to tune in to that energy at the very crown of your head for a moment.

And as you tune in,

Just imagine you are breathing in cool,

Relaxing energy flowing from the crown of your head all the way down your body like a waterfall.

And this waterfall just cascades over you with its soothing,

Healing energy.

Just feeling that energy flow all the way down your body like a waterfall.

And what we're going to do now is work through the major parts of the body,

Relaxing each major part of the body,

Using this energy.

And to begin,

Let me invite you to bring to mind your head and your neck and your shoulders.

And just bringing to mind all the muscles and joints and ligaments around your head and neck and shoulders.

Bringing to mind your senses with your eyes and ears and nose and mouth.

Bringing to mind the brilliance of your brain.

And as you breathe in,

Just imagining you are breathing in nourishing,

Relaxing energy for the head and neck and shoulders as you breathe in.

And as you breathe out,

Just letting go.

Letting go of stress,

Letting go of discomfort,

Letting go of discomfort,

Just letting go.

And now let's move down to the back area.

The upper back and the middle back and the lower back and the spine and all the nerves that flow down the spine all the way from the base of your neck down to the tip of your tailbone.

And as you breathe in,

Just breathing in nourishing energy for all these muscles in your back,

All these muscles in your spine.

And as you breathe out,

Just letting go.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Now let's work our way down the arms,

The left arm and the right arm,

And all of the complex muscles and bones and joints and tendons and ligaments down your arms that flow all the way down to the tips of your fingers.

And as you breathe in,

Just breathing in nourishing,

Relaxing energy for both the left arm and the right arm.

And as you breathe out,

Just letting go.

Letting go.

And now let's work our way down the front of the body,

Bringing to mind all the vital organs in the front of the body,

Your heart and all the love that's in your heart,

Your lungs,

Your liver,

Your kidney,

Your stomach,

Your spleen,

And all the digestive organs in your body.

Just bringing to mind all these vital organs as you breathe in,

Just breathing in nourishing,

Relaxing energy on the in-breath.

And as you breathe out,

Just letting go.

Letting go.

And now let's work our way down the lower part of the body,

Bringing to mind all the creative energy in your reproductive organs,

Bringing to mind your hips and your ankles,

And all the way down to the tips of your toes,

And all the way down to your hips and your thighs,

Going down your knees,

And all the way down your shins,

Down to your ankles,

All the way down to the soles of your feet,

Down to the tips of your toes.

And as you breathe in,

Just letting go.

And as you breathe out,

Just letting go.

And as you breathe in,

Just letting go.

And now that we've focused on these separate parts of the body,

Let me invite you now to bring to mind the entire body,

From the crown of your head to the soles of your feet.

And as you bring to mind an awareness of the entire body,

Let me invite you to imagine as you breathe in,

You are breathing in nourishing,

Relaxing energy for the entire body as you breathe in.

And as you breathe out,

You are just letting go.

Letting go.

And let me give you a couple of minutes now,

Just to continue to breathe on your own,

In silence.

Take one more minute,

And as we come to the close of our meditation,

Very,

Very gently,

Let me invite you to begin to wiggle your fingers and toes,

Very,

Very gently,

Begin to stretch your arms and your shoulders,

Very,

Very gently,

Begin to open your eyes,

As we come back together to our space.

Thank you,

My friends,

For this meditation.

May you go in peace.

Reviews

Thank you for your kindness.

Thank you for this meditation! Your voice and rhithm are wonderful! 🙏🏻

Loved this for its methodic flow. Really helped me tap into constrictions in my body and ease into loosening them. Many thanks 🙏🏽🌺✨

so calming.