Welcome to the 10-minute body scan.
You can do this lying down or sitting in a chair.
It's important to feel comfortable and to find a time when you'll not be disturbed.
I'm going to lead you in a process of paying attention to the sensations in different parts of the body in sequence,
Without judgment.
Attending to yourself in this way takes patience and practice.
Make yourself comfortable and follow my voice,
Letting go of any sense of trying to do anything at all.
So now,
Bring your mind to where your body is,
Spending some time noticing areas of tension and areas of ease,
All the way from your head to your feet.
Allowing your experience to be as it is.
There isn't a right way to do the body scan or a wrong way.
It's simply a process of opening our attention to the direct physical sensations in the body that are already here,
Just as they are.
And if there are no sensations in some parts,
That's fine too.
At any time during the body scan,
When you notice that your mind has wandered and this will happen,
Simply without any criticism or judgment,
Good-naturedly and gently escort your mind back to the current focus of attention.
You may have to do this many times and that's absolutely fine.
If you've fallen asleep or lost your focus,
That's okay too.
You haven't failed or done anything wrong.
Simply pick up where we are and continue with the scan.
Becoming aware now of the sensations of contact between your body and whatever it is that is supporting you.
The seat,
The chair,
The mat,
The floor.
Noticing all the different sensations.
Perhaps of pressure,
Temperature,
Tingling,
Weight,
Discomfort or comfort.
Noticing the weight of your body being supported and letting go into that sense of support.
Now,
Turning your attention to the process of breathing naturally and noticing the sensations of movement in the body as the body breathes.
And now,
Letting go of the breath as a focus and bringing your attention to your head and your face.
Noticing any tension in the head and the face.
Not trying to change this,
Simply noticing and allowing your experience to be as it is.
Noticing your facial expression,
The forehead,
Around the eyes,
The cheeks,
The ears,
The jaw.
Simply noticing,
Allowing your face to be as it is.
And now,
Noticing any sensations in the neck,
Front of the neck,
The back of your neck.
And moving your attention to the shoulders,
The right shoulder and the left shoulder.
How are the shoulders right now?
Allowing your shoulders to be as they are.
And now,
To the upper body.
Noticing how the rib cage and the lungs are expanding on the in breath,
Releasing on the out breath.
Noticing all the sensations of movement in the upper body.
Perhaps you can feel the breath moving in the back as well as the front of the body.
Noticing the sensations from deep inside the body,
The curve of the spine,
The muscles,
The movement,
All the way to the surface of the skin.
Now,
Moving your attention down your body to your belly and lower back.
Many people hold tension in the lower part of the torso.
There's no right way to feel.
We're simply accepting the direct experience just as it is without analyzing or making a commentary.
If you realize that you are commenting,
Just notice that too and without any judgment and as best you can,
Bring your attention back to the feeling,
The physical sensations as they are.
And if there are no sensations,
Just register a blank.
And now,
Moving your attention to sensations in the upper arms,
The elbow joints and the forearms.
What sensations are here?
Perhaps you can feel the sensations from inside the arms,
The bones,
The muscles,
The joints of the elbows.
Remember we're not searching for sensations.
We are allowing the experience of our arms to be just as they are in this moment.
And now,
Moving the attention to the hands,
The sensations in the palms of the hands,
The backs of the hands,
The thumbs,
The forefingers,
The middle fingers,
The ring fingers and the little fingers and all the spaces between the fingers and thumbs.
Holding the whole of both your hands in your awareness now.
And now,
Letting go of the hands and moving your attention to the hips,
Noticing the sensations in the hips and the buttocks and all the organs in this part of the body.
Simply allowing these sensations to be.
And now,
Moving your attention to the thighs and the knees,
The knee joints and the lower legs,
The ankles and the feet,
Soles of the feet,
The tops of the feet and the toes.
Noticing with curiosity and interest how the feet are right now.
Holding the whole of both your feet in your awareness without trying to change any of the sensations at all.
And now,
Letting go of the legs and feet and bringing your attention to your whole body,
Sitting or lying here.
Imagine that you could breathe with the whole of your body.
Imagine it filling with oxygen all the way down to your fingers and toes,
Into your head,
Your ears and face,
Filling on the in-breath,
Emptying on the out-breath.
Experiment with this for a few breaths now.
And now,
Coming back to observing the natural breath and your whole body sitting or lying here.
Noticing how you're relating to yourself right now.
And as you release the formal practice,
As best you can,
Bringing this sense of deep connection and acceptance into the rest of your day.
