30 min Body Scan

A 30 min Body Scan, adapted from the work of Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein. Guided by Anna Donald.

Transcript

30 minute body scan,

Adapted from a practice by Bob Stahl and Elijah 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,

Knowing you're breathing in,

And breathing out,

Knowing you're breathing out.

At times,

The attention may wander away from awareness of breathing.

When you recognize this,

Acknowledge where you went,

And then come back to the breath.

Breathing in and out with awareness.

And now,

Gently withdraw awareness from mindful 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.

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,

Any thoughts,

And emotions that may arise.

Beginning by bringing awareness to the bottom of the left foot,

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.

Noticing any sensations.

Noticing the heel,

Ball,

And sole of the left foot.

Feel into your toes and the top of the left foot now.

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

Now,

Move your awareness up into the lower left leg,

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

Feeling fully present.

Let awareness now rise up into the thigh,

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

Withdraw awareness from the left hip now,

Down to the left foot,

Shifting into the right foot,

And 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.

Noticing any sensations.

Noticing 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 up to the lower right leg now.

Feeling into the calf and shin and their connection to the right knee.

Feeling fully present.

Let awareness now rise up into the thigh,

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

Noticing any sensations that are there.

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

Being mindful of any sensations,

Thoughts,

And emotions that may arise.

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

The home of digestion and assimilation,

Feeling into your guts with awareness.

Allowing any thoughts,

Emotions,

Any sensations that may arise to just be.

Now withdraw your awareness from the belly and move into the tailbone.

Begin to sense into the lower,

Middle,

And upper parts of the back.

Feeling any sensations that may arise.

If there is any tightness.

Allow it to soften.

If you can't let it soften,

Just let it be there.

Let the awareness now shift to the chest and into the heart and lungs.

Being fully present.

Feeling into the rib cage now and sternum and then into the breasts.

Noticing any thoughts,

Emotions,

Or sensations.

Allowing them to just be.

Now gently withdraw attention from the chest and shift 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 hand.

Moving up into the forearm now,

The elbow,

The 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 and up into the right wrist.

Feeling into the chest and then the back of the hand and up into the left hand.

Moving up into the forearm now.

Sensing into the elbow and upper right arm.

Feeling any sensations that are there.

Let the awareness move into both shoulders.

Noticing any sensations that are there.

Sensing into the armpits now.

And up into the neck and throat.

Feeling present to any sensations,

Thoughts or emotions that may arise.

Bringing your awareness into the jaw now.

And then into the teeth,

Tongue,

Mouth and lips.

Becoming aware of any sensations that might arise.

Showing any thoughts,

Any emotions,

Any sensations to just be.

Feeling into the cheeks now.

The sinus passages that go deep into the head.

The eyes.

The muscles around the eyes.

Feeling into the forehead.

And the temples.

Feeling fully present.

Let the awareness move into the top and back of the head now.

Feel into the ears and then inside of the head and into the brain.

Feeling fully present.

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

Take it from the head through the neck to the shoulders,

Down the arms to the hands.

Through the chest,

The back,

The belly,

The hips,

The pelvic region,

The legs and the feet.

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

Thoughts and emotions.

Being fully present with this whole body.

Feeling in,

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

Feel the body as a whole organism.

As you come to the end of the body scan,

Congratulate yourself for taking this time to be present.

Reviews

Thank you

Good

Excellent

Soothing voice, well paced, loved the emphasis on coming back to wholeness at the end

Love it! Thank you.

All the positive adjectives 🥰💗⚡️💗✨👍

Very nice, no nonsense body scan!

Excellent straight forward body scan! Soft voice, gentle pacing, enough quiet space, no music or fuzz! Thank you so much for this great meditation!

Just what I needed today! Thanks 😊

Great body scan. Just enough attention brought to the body and the breath. Great gaps of silence. Thank you.

It's good to try a 30 minute body scan when you have the time for it. I like the voice - restful but precise and clearly enunciated.

Very soothing and relaxing.
Perfect pace.
I ❤️ your voice!

Professional, top quality recording, soothing voice, relaxing process. A favorite!

Great one. Definitely a favorite of mine so far.

Great start to my day. Thank you.

Extremely soothing, activating awareness. The narrator has a beautiful calming voice. Plenty of quiet breaks in between to allow oneself to settle into the meditation without being too long or drawn out.