15 min Body Scan

A 15 min Body Scan, adapted from a practice by Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein. Guided by Anna Donald.

Transcript

15 minute body scan.

Adapted from a practice by Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein.

Take a few moments to be still.

Congratulate yourself for taking this time for meditation practice.

Do a mindful check-in feeling into your body and mind and simply allowing any waves of thoughts,

Emotions and physical sensations to just be.

Perhaps it's been a busy day and this is the first time you're stopping.

As you begin to enter the world of being rather than doing,

Remember there is no need to judge,

Analyze or figure things out.

Just allow yourself to be in the moment with all that's there.

When you feel ready,

Gently shift the focus to the breath.

Breathe normally and naturally and focus on the tip of the nose or the abdomen.

Breathing in and knowing you're breathing in and breathing out knowing you're breathing out.

At times the mind may wander away from awareness of breathing.

When you recognize this,

Acknowledge wherever you went and then come back to the breath.

Breathing in and out with awareness.

And now gently withdraw awareness from the breathing as you shift to the body scan.

As you go through the body you may come across areas that are tight or tense.

If you can allow them to soften,

Let that happen.

If you can't,

Just let the sensations be,

Letting them ripple in whatever direction they need to go.

As you go through the body,

Be mindful of any physical sensations and any thoughts or emotions that may arise.

Bring awareness to the bottom of the left foot now,

Where you feel the contact of your foot on the floor.

It could be the back of the heel or the bottom of the left foot.

Sensing into what is being felt,

Feeling the heel,

Ball and sole of the left foot.

Feel into your toes now and the top of the left foot and back into the Achilles tendon and up into the left ankle.

Now move your awareness up to the lower left leg,

Feeling into the calf and shin and the connection to the left knee.

Being fully present,

Let your awareness now rise up to the thigh,

Sensing into the upper leg and its connection into the left hip.

And now withdraw awareness from the left hip,

Down to the left foot and shift into the right foot,

Bringing awareness to where you feel the contact of your right foot on the floor.

It could be the back of the heel or the bottom of the right foot,

Sensing into what is being felt,

Feeling the heel,

Ball and sole of the right foot.

Feel into the toes and the top of the right foot now,

Back into the Achilles tendon and up into the right ankle.

Moving your awareness now up to the lower right leg and feeling into the calf and shin and the connection to the right knee.

Being fully present,

Let awareness now rise up into the thigh,

Sensing into the upper leg and its connection into the right hip.

Gently withdraw your attention from the right hip now and move into the pelvic region,

Being mindful of any sensations,

Thoughts and emotions.

Lift the awareness to the abdomen now and into the belly,

The home of digestion,

And assimilation,

Feeling into your guts with awareness.

Withdrawing awareness from the belly and moving into the tailbone,

Beginning to sense the lower,

Middle and upper parts of the back.

Feeling any sensations that are there,

Allowing any tightness to soften and letting be whatever is not softening.

Let the awareness now shift up into the chest,

Into the heart and lungs,

Being fully present,

Feeling into the rib cage and sternum and then into the breasts,

Noticing any sensations,

Any thoughts,

Any emotions.

Now gently withdraw attention from the chest and shift the awareness into the fingertips of the left hand,

Feeling into the fingers and palm and then the back of the hand and up into the left wrist.

Proceed up into the forearm,

Elbow and upper left arm,

Feeling any sensations that are there.

Shifting awareness to the fingertips of the right hand now,

Feeling into the fingers and palm and the back of the hand,

Up into the right wrist.

Proceed up into the forearm,

Elbow and upper right arm,

Feeling any sensations that are there.

Let the awareness move into both shoulders and armpits now and then up into the neck and throat,

Being fully present to any sensations,

Thoughts or emotions.

Now bring your awareness into the jaw and then into the teeth,

Tongue,

Mouth and lips,

Noticing any sensations.

Feel into the cheeks now,

The sinus passages that go deep into the head,

The eyes,

The muscles around the eyes.

Feel into the forehead and the temples,

Being fully present.

Let the awareness move into the top and back of the head,

Feeling into the ears and the inside of the head and into the brain,

Being fully present.

Now expand the field of awareness to the entire body from head to toes to fingertips.

Connect from the head through the neck to the shoulders,

Arms,

Hands,

Chest,

Back,

Belly,

Hips,

Pelvic region,

Legs and feet.

Feel the body as a whole organism with its various physical sensations,

Thoughts and emotions,

Being fully present with your whole body.

Breathing in,

Feel the whole body rising and expanding on inhalation and falling and contracting on exhalation.

Feel the body as a whole organism,

Being fully present.

As you come to the end of the body scan,

Congratulate yourself for taking this time to be present.

Reviews

Nice!!

Just what i needed

This was one of the very first awarness practices I listened to years ago. And have just come back to it ! Great practice and very soothing voice.

This one is seriously amazing. The spacing in between each section is great. I wish there was some subtle bell noises in the back but overall it is amazing.

I enjoyed this meditation thoroughly. The flow was smooth as well as the woman's voice and I thoughtfully led through all major parts of the body. Thank you for this experience.

Very grounding, thank you

I like the pace and soothing voice. Short and sweet body scan

That was very helpful. Your pleasant guiding voice and the pace worked very well to help offer a sense of grounding🙏

Love this body scan thank you

Soothing and keep coming back to this one.

Soothing voice great

Excellent. A great short body scan that got me in tune with my body, relaxed me and gave me a wonderful sense of calm. Thank you 🙏🏼

Best body Scan ive tried👍

Very peaceful. Thank you

Relaxing. I find myself relaxed by the end, not focusing on individual areas. Just the body as a whole.

I feel great after this, and what a lovely voice you have.

Wonderfully clear & kind presence flows through her all the way to Idaho .

Lovely, gentle voice. I love how she guides with kind authority.