Medium Length Body Scan With Teresa Johnson

The body scan practice is the first practice we explore deeply in our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction classes. It's a systematic tour of the body and a wonderful way to increase the stability of attention and awareness. The advantages of increasing awareness of our embodied nature include increased stress resilience, higher emotional awareness, and a more grounded sense of presence.

Transcript

We'll begin the practice of the body scan today either lying down or sitting.

Perhaps putting a pillow under your head or a cushion under the knees if that provides support that's needed.

Finding a position that allows you to be relaxed and to feel supported underneath.

Practice of the body scan invites us to bring attention into the body,

Attention that is both kind and supportive.

To bring deeper awareness and relationship to our own body.

So beginning by feeling the body and the surface underneath is rising up to meet that body.

Allowing yourself to melt into that surface a little bit more.

Noticing how it feels to be in this body right now.

Feeling the breath as it comes and goes moving in through the nostrils down through the throat.

Expanding the lungs as they press back into the back against the surface underneath.

You may notice the rise and fall of the belly.

Feeling this breathing body.

And letting awareness travel now down to the very tips of the toes.

Not moving the toes but sensing the toes.

Feeling if there are sensations there.

Maybe the feeling of clothing on the tips of the toes,

Maybe if they are bare,

The temperature of the air as it moves around the feet.

May feel nothing at all.

That's fine too.

Feeling all ten toes.

And then letting attention come to the bottoms of the feet first at the heel.

As the heels press against the floor if you're lying down.

All the way around the heel.

Then moving to the arches of the feet.

Feeling the arches,

How they are similar or different.

Feeling the balls of the feet.

Are there sensations there?

And then moving to the tops of the feet.

And now feeling the whole foot on each side.

Moving attention now to the ankles.

Feeling the ankles all the way around the whole circumference of the ankles.

Sensing the ankles from the inside out.

All the bones,

Ligaments that come into the ankles.

And letting your attention glide to the lower parts of the leg,

The calf.

Each of the calves as they press against the floor.

What sensations do you notice here?

Traveling to the front of the leg,

The shin.

What can you feel in the shins?

And moving to the knees,

Starting at the kneecaps.

Noticing what's felt here.

Moving around to the sides of the knees.

To the backs of the knees.

And then can the awareness take in the whole knee?

The surface of the knee and then feeling the knees from the inside.

May notice a difference from one knee to the other.

Then moving to the upper leg.

The strong quad muscles.

Are there sensations in these muscles in the thighs?

Noticing the back and the back surface of the leg as it presses against the floor.

What sensations are here?

Feeling that long femur bone that runs all the way up to the hip socket.

Noticing that feeling the whole leg now on each side.

Noticing if there are any stories that come forward with this scanning of the body.

Coming back to the body.

Thoughts wander.

Just coming back to where we are.

Notice we travel from the top of the leg,

The hip socket,

Letting awareness take in the whole pelvic region.

The pelvic bowl,

Sacrum,

This area where the organs of reproduction and elimination reside.

Letting awareness take in the whole region of the pelvis.

What sensations are here?

This may include the buttocks on the floor as it's pressing against the mat or the chair.

Noticing that if there is history or injury in any part of the body that can be met with bringing the awareness to the breath or moving on to the next part of the body.

You have full permission to do that.

Noticing and moving on to the lower part of the spine,

The tailbone,

Moving up to the lower lumbar vertebrae.

Feeling the lower back.

What's happening in the lower back right now?

What sensations are there?

Moving to the mid back.

Feeling muscles on either side of the spine.

Now letting awareness move to the shoulder blades,

The scapular region in the back.

Noticing if there's any holding or tightness here.

Feeling the breath moving the back.

And feeling the whole back from shoulders to waist.

Now letting awareness travel around to the front of the torso first to the lower belly.

Feeling what sensations are here in the lower belly.

Moving to the abdomen.

What do you notice here?

Feeling the rib cage.

And then the rising and the falling of the chest as your awareness comes into the region of the sternum,

That long strong bone in the chest protects the heart.

Feeling this region of the heart expanding and contraction of the lungs.

Perhaps even the beating of the heart.

Letting awareness travel to those bones that connect the sternum all the way over to the shoulder,

The clavicles.

Moving attention out from the center of the chest all the way down each arm to the fingertips.

Letting your attention rest on the fingertips.

Each one,

Just taking each one in.

What sensations are in the fingertips?

How are they different?

How are they similar?

What can be felt now as you move into the whole finger,

All the fingers,

The thumbs.

Letting your awareness take in the entire hand,

Now the fleshy part of the hand,

The palm,

The tops of the hand,

The bony side of the hands.

What sensations are here in the hands,

Feeling the whole hand?

Even moving to the wrists,

Feeling the wrists all the way around.

And then the lower arms.

You might notice the elbows as they're resting on the ground.

What else can be felt in the elbows?

Now the upper arms.

And feeling both arms as a whole from the shoulder all the way down to the tips of the fingers.

Each arm.

Feeling the tops of the arms,

The shoulder and the armpit,

It comes into the socket there,

The rotary cuffs.

And moving awareness to the neck,

The throat region in the front.

What sensations are here?

On the outside,

Moving around to the back of the neck.

Feeling upper cervical vertebrae there.

Feeling the neck from the outside.

Now feeling this region from the inside out.

Perhaps noticing as you swallow or breathe what sensations are there.

Now letting attention move to the jaw area and observing as attention is brought here,

What is the sensation that you notice in the jaw?

Is it soft and relaxed?

Is there holding?

And how does bringing attention to this area change that,

If anything?

And bringing attention into the lips,

Feeling the lips,

Perhaps the air passing across the lips as you breathe in and out.

Moving into the mouth and noticing the tongue,

Where the tongue is positioned.

Is it on the bottom of the mouth?

Is it pressed against the roof of the mouth?

Is it relaxed?

Tense?

Feeling the teeth all the way around,

The lower teeth,

The upper teeth,

The lower part of the mouth,

The roof of the mouth,

The back of the throat.

Bringing awareness into the region of the nasal cavity,

The sinuses,

The area behind the eyes.

Letting the eyes relax and soften just a little.

Then letting awareness come to the surface of the face,

The cheeks,

The area around the eyes,

The eyebrows.

Bringing awareness to the area between the eyebrows.

What's present here?

The forehead,

The temples.

Bringing awareness to each side of the head,

To the ears and feeling the region of the ears.

What do you notice here?

Moving attention around to the top of the head and now the back of the head,

Either as it's resting against the floor or if you're sitting,

The feeling of the head resting on the shoulders,

Resting on the neck,

On the shoulders.

Feeling the entire head.

Imagining that at the top of the head there is an opening that you can breathe down through.

As you do,

Breathing in and letting this breath flow through the top of the head,

Down through the top of the body,

The torso,

Through the arms,

The hips.

Letting this breath flow down through the legs and then exhaling out through the feet and then inhaling back through the feet,

Up through the body,

Letting the air flow through this living,

Breathing body,

Letting that air then exit out the top of the head,

Breathing in,

Feeling the wholeness of this body,

Feeling the aliveness of this body.

I push out all đang.

You

Reviews

Perfect, aprt from the noisy interruption in the middle

Gentle, calming pace and voice

Delightful. The instructor's voice was very rhythmic and soothing. The time for this meditation passed very quickly. Thank you.